Papers Relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces

m u ms RELATING'

TO m a

RBOBIGINKL TRIBESOFTHE CENTBRLPROV INCES;

LEFT IN MSS

BY THE LATE REV D. STEPHEN HISLOP.

MI SSIONARY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

A T N A G P O R Eu

E D I T E D,

WITH NOTES AND PREFACE,

R . TEMPLE,

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF THE CENTRAL PROV INCES.C

“ [fl a g v.9 3"

I N D E X .

PREFACE .

PART I . -Essay by Mr. H islop ;with note by Editor.

PART II. —V ocabulary by Mr. H islop ; with note by Editor.Supplement to the V ocabulary as respects the G ondi dialect

only With note by Editor .Comparativ e V ocabulary of the Muasi or K uri dialect ;with note by Editor.

PART I l l — SongsN ote and Abstract English v ersion by the Editor.The Songs reduced to writing with English equ ivalents

by Mr. H islop and examined or supplemented by Mr.

Pandurang.

PART IV .—Appendices, consisting of miscellaneous memoranda with

note by the Editor.

PREFACE.

IT js but“too wel l known to ‘ all persons interested in the

N agpore Country that the Rev . S tephen His lop,M is s ionary of

the Free Church of Scot land at N agporer—fa gentleman dis tin

guished ,

for all ;the v i rtues and qual it ies becoming his sacredprofess ion, and for attainmen ts ,

in s cholarship and in practicalscience.,

-died by accidental drowning on the 4th September1 853. During n ineteen years o f labour in the s ervice o f theM is s ion,he had dil igent ly and perseveringly enquired,n o t onlyinto the phys ical resources of the country, bu t als o in to thelanguages , the manners, the rel igions, the his tor i es,and thean tiqui t i es o f the people . In the pursuit of thes e enqu i r ies ,be inves t igated much regard ing the aboriginal tribes inhabi t ingthe territories now known as the Central Provinces,and e speci

ally regard ing the G ond people . The result s of this inves tigat ion w ere embodied in s eve ral elaborate papers , which wereintended for publ ication u l timately in a comple te fo rm, bu t

which were inevitably left sca ttered and incomple te at the t imeof his sudden and lamen ted death.

I t was naturally cons idered by the late Mr . Hislop’

s relationsand friends , tha t the s e valuable and impo rtan t paper s sho uldno t be lo s t to the publ ic, bu t should be examined,co llated,a ndprepared for publ ica tion, in a manner which ( though fall ing farshdr t of w hat the au thor hims elf w ould have produc ed had hel ived) might ye t present the w o rk in a sufficien tly int ell igibleshape. At firs t there was hope that s ome gentlemen p os ses s ingmore o r loss of l itera ry l eisu re m ight be found to fulfi l the taskof edi ting thes e papers . B u t it is d ifficul t to s ecu re suchas sis tance in these P rovinces . And at length,at the requ es tof M r . l-l is‘

10p’

s fr iend s,I undertook to h ave the pape rs brough to u t under my own su pervis ion and di rection. The w o rk isnow done. imperfectly no doubt,but as w el l as t ime and m ean s

perm i tted ; and if no t ac tually good,it is perhap s be t ter thannothing at all.Mr . H islop had con siderable opportunit ies and facil iti es for

ob taining rel iable and de tailed information regarding,what arecommonly called, the aboriginal tribes of this part of India.

I n the cold s eason of each year,ha°made tou rs bymarching int he interior of the districts,and thu s sawmuch of, and heard

much from, the pepole in their homes,their vi llages,their fieldsand their fores ts . He was generally accompanied by educatednat ives connected w ith the M iss ion,who helped him in securingfull and correct answers to all queries . These were nat ivec atechi sts and preachers, either stat ioned in, or moving about,the count ry and especially in Chindwara, the heart of theG ond region, —who recorded and t ransmitted facts t o him. Hew as acquainted w ith various European officers and gentlemenwho res ided among, or otherw ise came in contact w ith,theset ribes , and who supplied him w ith information . He madeu se o f all these several advan tages w ith pat ience , as s iduity,and research . H e t es ted and verified the informat ion thu s

accumulated, by extensiv e study o f the works o f other authorson the aboriginal races of India and of othe r countries .

These t ribes w ill, from their numbers, their position, andtheir anteceden ts,be found worthy o f the erudition and studywhich M r. H is lop bes towed on all that belonged to them .

Though much imbued w ith H induism, they are yet quited is t inct in race and language from the H indus . Again,they aren o t all of one tribe,perhaps not even of one nat ionality,for s omeo f their dialects differ altogether from others . By themse lves,in the aggregate,they form an important s ect ion o f the popu

lation . They are spread, thinly perhap s, bu t broadly, all overthe large t erri tories now known as the Central Provinces-7from our extreme limit s in one direction t o ou r furthes t front ierin another ; from B undlecund in the nor th t o the

‘ Te loogooc oas t districts in the south ; from Malwa and Candeish in the

w es t t o the confines o f Oris sa in the east and right through thevery centre o f the country, among the V indhya Mountainsw h ich ove rlook the val ley o f the N erbu dda and the Sau tpoora

R anges w hich bound the plains of Nagpore and the cottonthe Wu rda .

Among these tribes one, namely the G onds, have formed

pol i tical annals of their own,have w i elded dynast ic power inm os t par ts o f thes e P rovinces, and have left architectural remains in a ttes tat ion of former greatness. O n this subj ect itmay be w ell to t ranscribe some brief passages frommyfirs tAdminis trat ion R eport ( for the year 1862 )

The earl ies t dynasties in this part of India of which any.

thing is now either recorded or remembered are those of the

G ond-Rajpoots . Bu t prior to these, and superior to them incivilization, there must have been several H indu dynast ies,which are onlynow known by architectural remains some at

Jubbulpore on the banks of the Nerbudda ; some in the hillypart of Chu tteesgurh

and some at Rustar in the heart of the

w ilderness .

T he ancient G ondwana, or country of th e G onds, compr isesmost of the countries now included in the Central Provinces,both below and above the Sau tpoora Range . The earl iests ettlers in the w oods and hills and the oldest dynast ies w ere G ond.

T he G onds seem,w ithout doub t, to have been one of the mostpow erful and impor tant o f the aboriginal races of India. Existingprior to the advent of the H indus,they possessed their own formso f heathenism,which often are preserved entire and intact to thisday,and wh ich have alw ays, and under all changes, impressedtheir mark on the character of the tribe . B ut some G onds,Whileretaining their external and distinct ive characteristics, adoptedthe Hindu, and some few the Mahomedan, religion. Thusthere are seen in the present age,as respects fai th and custom,

three kinds of G onds,namely t he aboriginal G onds, the H induG onds,and the few Mussulman G onds . I n physique and moraleall three seem much alike . The H indu conquerors o f the

Cl ouds w ere principally R ajpoots . These intermarried w i th theconquered,and their descendents are called Rajpoots,and pridethemselves on their descent . M ost of the indigenous Rajpootsso called are

really G ond Raj poots . These m ixed races,bscoming accl imatised to countries

that w ould have proved deadly to

many civili zed nat ions, Spread themselves over w ide domains,and in arms and p olicy emulated the ach ievements of superiortribes . Their original boundary in the south mayperhaps havebeen the G odav ery If it w as, they must have crossed thatriver and extended far into the Dakhan .

They formed from firs t to last four kingdoms w ith in the ll

present l imi ts of these provinces. T he no rthern k ingdom hadits capi tal atMundla,and at G urra ( near the modern ci ty of Juhbulpore) and dominated the greater part of the Nerbudda V alley .

O f the two m idland kingdoms, one had its cap ital at Deogurh on the southern face or slopes of the Sau tpoora Range,over-look ing and commanding the plains which now belong toNagpore . Deogurh is now ruined and utterly desolate ; bu t itwas a city before N agpore w as even a village . T he o ther midland kingdom has its capital at Kherla,a hill commanding the

rich valley o f B aitool,in the heart of the Sau tpoora H ills . To thisalso belonged the celebrated for ts of G aw ilgurh and N urnalla,both in the same range . T he sou thern k ingdom had its capitalat Chanda on theWurda,and comprised a v as t,hu tWi ld,territory :it streached far up to to the north-easft,.and again, commanding

the G odav ery,stretched far down to the sou th . These four dynasties existed at least some t ime before the formation o f theMoghu l Empire . They w ere brave and independent, but theycou ld never have been rich or powerful . S till, each of themmus t have possessed an annual revenue o f some lakhs o frupees . They w ere quite infer ior in ar t and civilizat ion to theH indu and Mahomedan dynasties known in other parts of India ;but st il l they each left archi tectural remains and monuments o f

great interest ;at Mundla,at G urra near Jubbulpore,at Chouragurh near N ursingpo re, at Deogurh near Chindw ara,at Kherlanear B aitool,and at Chanda . These ruins,surrounded by,or adjacent to,the w aste,or the rocks,or the forest,fill the modern enqu ir

s r w ith surprise, and attest the former energies o f half-civili zedraces contending w ith the w ildness o f N ature . As the Mahomedan rule absorbed the different parts o f Central India, it attackedthese G ond Kingdoms in turn . T he northern k ingdom,however,in some struggles w el l known to local tradit ion,maintainedsomething of its independence, though it mayhave lost manyof its richer provinces. T he sou thern k ingdom also does no tappear to have been entirely subdued, though it w as renderedtribu tary ;bu t its branches across the G odav ery w ere carriedaw ay and added to the Mahomedan k ingdoms in the Dakhan .

That dominion indeed spread over bo th banks of the G odav ery;and up to a recent period the s trip o f territory on the left,orNagpore side of the r iver,belonged to the Nizam . T he midlandkingdom w as at all events rendered tributary,and its Princesw ere,by force or influence,converted to Islam.

B esides these four k ingdoms there w as aG ond Rajpoot dynastyat Wu rungal in the Dakhan. When that place fell to the

Mahomedan, the R aja fled northward across the G odav ery, and

establ ished himself in w ild independence among the inaccess ibleforests .

B ut besides forts, palaces, and tombs, they have in someparts of the country left traces o f w orks w isely designed formaterial improvement . O n this point,it maybe proper to insertthe follow ing passages from my official report on the riverVVyngunga

Th is t ract,as already s een, lies between a low range of hi llsand a river having an average breadth of thirtym iles . Though

partly champaign,it is yet much broken up and d ivers ified byh ills and jungles . Advantage has been taken of the undulationsin the ground and the s tream s permeat ing it,to cons t ruct a regular tank sys tem. Thes e are no t s o large as the lakes mentionedin the upper basin of the Wyngunga ; but are second to them

alone. This tract belonged to the G ond dynasty of Chanda,who, probably es tab l ished at a later period, w ere c omparativ elymo re civi lized ; and thes e have left behind them a noblemark on the land . I n 1 8 65,after vis iting thes e tanks, I caus eda l etter to be written to the local authorit i es, w hich, as it

conveyed impress ions on the s pot, may furnish a few extractsto make up th e description, as fol low s

‘ The number and. s ize of these tanks is cer tainly remarkable. In some

parts they ev en clu s ter thick round the feet of the hills. From the summi tof the hill,called

“ Pérzagurh”by the G onds, and “ The Sev en Sisters ”

bythe H indus, no less than thirty-sev en tanks were counted as d ist inctlyv isible.

‘ These tanks are indeed the pr ide and ornament of the d istr ict Theyare, as the people themselv es told the Chief C omm iss ioner,the v ery life of the

place. They are the object to which mu ch of the industry and capi tal of

the people are dev oted ; and are the main sou rce of agr icu lt u ral wealth,The two staples are r ice and sugarcane

- and both are ent irely dependent on'

the water supply for irr igat ion from the tanks . N ot only hav e large, indeedsomet imes v ery extens iv e, sheets of water been formed by damm ing upstreams by heav y ear thwork dykes, bu t masonry escapes and slu ices and

channels hav e been const ru cted . Some of the slu ices,as head works fo r irr igat ionchannels,present an

' almost elaborate apparatu s, creditable to the skill andingenu ity of the people.

‘With many, perhaps w ith most,of the largest tanks, the works were in

good,ev en cap ital repair.’

Thus it is that some know ledge o f these tribes must be u seful,indeed almost essential, to the various Officers engaged in the

Civi l Adminis tration o f these Provinces .

Though these people have in bygone ages lorded it over theplains cul tivated w ith regular husbandry, they l ive in recentt imes,for the most part, in the hilly and w ooded tracts . Theseare the tracts wh ich yield those vast suppl ies of t imber w oodand fuel ; those extensive seams o i coal ; those iron ores ; thosemineral riches ; that lac dye,and many other jungle products,w hich const itute in the mass so large a part of the resourceso f these Provinces . In all efforts that are being,or may yet bemade to u tilize these resources,an acquaintance w i th the peoplewho dw ell in these often desolate and inaccessible tracts,isreally requis ite .

I t behoves especially those who are employed in the conservat ion and management o f the forests— a department of fastgrow ing importance- to learn all about the hi ll tribes whoseco operation is necessary to departmental success,and overwhominfluence can be w on only by conciliation . R egarding theimportant posit ion occup ied by these people in the hi ll districts,the follow ing psssage may be extracted from my second A dministration Report,for 1863: 0

O ne great cause of w astage and destruction of the fores tsis what is called “Dhya

” cultivat ion. This “Dhya“ cultivat ion

is prac tically a substitu te fo r ploughing,and a dev ice for savingthe trouble o f that operation . I t is resorted to by hill people,w ho are averse to labor,and have l it tle or no agricultural capital .T he me thod is in this w ise : A piece of ground on a moderate slopeis selected,clothed w ith trees , brushw ood and grass ; the treesare cut down in N ovember,the brushw ood and grass are set fire toin May, the charred ground is left co v ered w ith ashes ; in thebeginning of June quantit ies of seed are placed at the upperend o f the slope ; the rains descending w ash, the seed over and

into the prepared ground ; no ploughing or any other operationis resorted to . There s prings up a plentiful’ crep, which hasto be w atched all day and night,t il l it is cu t . I fno t so w atched,it w ould be eaten u p by w ild animals . In this manner all the

pulses are raised . B esides this cul ture, there w ill be a few

fields around the homesteads,regularly ploughed, and grow ingsuperio r produc ts . T he pulses,how ever, form the s taple food

o f the h il l people in four distric tsfi“ and‘Mundla .

Seonee.in many parts of dis tricts adj acent to

Chmdwm ‘

them . T he population dependen t mainlyon Dhya cultivation may be a m illion

or more . U nfortunately the best ground for this pecul iarcul tivat ion is precisely t hat where the finest timber trees l iketo grow . I t may be hoped that by degrees these hill peoplew ill learn a be t ter mode o f cult ivation B u t to prohibit the

Dhya cul tivatio n,w ould be to drive th is w idelyr cattered pepulation to despair. Though rude and ignorant, they are not

destitute o f Spirit and endurance . They have clans and Chiefs ;they are alw ays predatory ; and they have on occasions shownthemselves capable o f armed resis tance I f by a prohibit ion of

their favorite culture they w ere reduced to any distress, theywou ld resort to plunder,and especial ly to cattle -stealing. And

it is to be remembered that the great pasturage whi ther the

cattle from the plain dis ti ic ts resort,is situated in their country .

And if they w ere no t in the country,the last state of the forestsw ou ld be w orse than the first . Fo r then the traces o f humanhabitation, set tlement, and clearance, w ould disappear. The

foresters and the w oodmen could no longer l ive in, or evenenter into, the w ilderness, rank and malarious w ith unclearedjungle,and overrun w ith w ild beas ts . These animals are alreadyso des tructive as to constitut e a real difficul ty . T he only checkupon their becomingmasters of the forests is the presence of the

hil l tribes .

There is much in the character of thes e tr ibes to attract

B rit ish sympathies. Theyare honest and truth-tel l ing; theyare simple -minded ; though superstitious; they are yet ,

freefrom fanat icism ; they have great phy s ical endurance . Theircourage is remarkable : the instance is freshly remembered in

the Chindwara Dis trict,w here an E ngl ish o fficer was sav’

from‘ ins tant ' death in the grip of a pan ther by the bravery of

a G ond hunter : and st il l more recently, a w ounded offi cer on

the G odav eryw as res cued from the w ild beas ts by his nativehunter

In former days, the bane of all these tribe’

s has been the“

drinking of ardent sp irits, and even w ilful and del iberatedrunkenness. B u t of late years radical changes in the management of the excise have removed many temptat ions fromtheir w ay. And it is the concurrent tes timony of all pers on s,E uropean and N ative,mos t competent to judge,that a markedreform in the habi ts of thes e people has : been s e tting in of late .

While a know ledge o f these aborig inal tribes is thus s eento subserve so many practical uses , it w i ll n o t be w ithou t itss cientific and ethnological valu e . For it is the op inion o f the

bes t informed persons, that in their languages and rel ig ions,thes e peopl e have much in common w ith the w ild races of o therparts,both

of the Indian peninsula and of the Asiatic cont inent;and that numerous po ints of interes ting comparison suggestthemselves .

Such, then,very briefly, are the tribes for the elucidation o f

whose characterMr .H is lop devoted somuch o f his heavily-taxedtime and thought. From the inevitably incomplete aridfragmentafy papers which he left, those which fol low havebeen

elected for publ ication in the order as be low

I . E ssay .

I I . V ocabulary .

III . Songs and descripti ve p reez’

I V . Appendixes, cons ist ing of m iscel laneous memoranda.

To each paper have been appended such notes or other ex

planation as seemed to be requ ired.

The w ords in the G ondi, the Muas i, and o ther d ialects, are

written in the Roman character ; all thes e languages be ingdestitute of any w ritten character of thei r own. B u t it issupposed by some w ell able to judge, that the Oriental Devanagri character w ould afford mu ch better means of conveying the sounds of the w ords of these dialects as real ly pro

nounced by the p eople. This point may"7 deserve cons ideration,

as a miss ion to the Gonds has recently been commenced bythe Free Church of Scotland at Chindwara ; and as hereafters chools for secular instruct ion in Gondi may be establ ishedthere .

Though the preparation of thes e papers may be imperfect,s til l the labour of several gentlemen has been g iven to it,whose as s istance I '

have pleasure in acknow ledg ing. They are,

Mr . G . B arclay Superintendent of the Chief Comm is s ioner ’sOffice the R ev . Mr . B aba Pandurang {of the Free Churcho f Scotland M is s ion ) , and Syud Noor ( the M eer M oonsheeo f the Secre tariat

And though this work mus t neces sarily be al together inferiort o w hat it w ould have been had it been comple ted and broughtou t by its author hims elf, yet the publ ishing o f it, even in

this broken shape, s eems des irable, in just ice to the subj ect,and from regard to M r . His10p

s memory, —a memory w hichis rev ered and beloved by all who knew him ; is respected byall sc i ent ific persons interested in the practical advancemento f thes e Provinces ; and is cherished by the natives, for whosemoral and lasting w e lfare he laboured so long .

N A G P o R E

O ctober 1 866 . R . TEMPLE ,

PART L— Essar

Ta ts Essay,by M r. H islop, o n the abor iginal tribes of the

C entral Provinces w as no t left by its au thor in exactly the shapein which it is now presented . I t appears from the au tographmanuscript that he first composed an Essay on the aboriginaltribes o f the Nagpore country b efo re the incorporation of thatterritory in the present Central Pro v inces . Afterwards he en

larged his design so as to em b race the whole o f th ese Provinces ;and he obtain :d mo re spec ific info rmation regarding the sub

divis ions o f the G m il tribe in partic ular. t his induce 'l him to

amplify that po rt io n o f the es say w hich related to the G an ls,and

to include amonor the G en is proper tw o t ribes ( the Ma'l ias and

the K olams w h ich he had reckoned among the o ther aborigine s.For these, o r fo r some such reasons, he began to rew rite hisessay. B ut at the t ime o f his death,he had proceeded only so

far as the specification o f ten o u t o f the twelve subd ivisions of

the G onds. Thus there are two manuscripts— the firs t,being theoriginal,carried to its conclusion; the second,being the rew ritten,or revised essay,carried only a short way into the subject.

I t seemed, therefo re, desirable, e v en necessary,to make upone new essay o ut o f these two manuscripts ; following the re

w ri tten essay,so far as it go es, and taking the rest from the

originaly-prepared manuscript . O n examinat ion o fthe papers,I

have found that this adaptation is quite fea sible, and is the bes tmeans o f carrying o ut the intention o f the author to the u tmostthat is now possible . Thus, al though the essay which follow s

has something o fcompi latio n and re arrangement,ye t‘

it containsnoth ing that is ‘

no t to be fo und in o ne o r o ther o f M r. H is lop’

two manuscripts abo v e described ; and it comprises every th ingessent ial that is to be gathered fr om them.

T o the essay, as now publ ished, are appended as foot ne tesv arious annotations taken from Mr. H islp n

s manuscr ip t. Some

hesitation w as felt in ord e ring the publ icatio n o f t he se no tes .fo r they were incomple te at the t ime o f the author’s death ; itWas often very difficul t to decyphe r them and sometimes theycontain references to au thorit ies no t now ob tainable at Nagpo re,and,therefore,are no t alw ays capable of being verified . B ut sofar as verification has been pract icable,it has been made . Andthough the notes are no t by anymeans what they wou ld havebeen had they been. finished, s till they have been pu t into a

readable shape and,even w i th thei r unavoidabl e imperfe ctions,they may be u seful,and may,at least, give some idea of M r.

Hislop’

e minute and extensive research.

R . T .

E S SAY on the Hill Tr ibes of the Central P rov inces .

B s smns the general population o f the Central Provinces,cons isting o f a great preponderance of H indus and a small minorityo fMahomedans,there are various tribes residing in the hillyand jungly districts, of whom comparatively l it t le is know n .

Though among these there are div ersnies of dialect,and in one

instance a complete difference in language, ye t there are somefeatures wh ich are possessed by all in common.

Physical app earance— All are a l ittle below the averag e size

o f Europeans,and in complexion darker than the general i ty of

H indus. Their b odies are w ell preportioned,bu t their featuresare rather ugly. They have a roundish head,distended nostrils ,w ide mou th,thickish lips,straigh t black hair, and scanty beardand moustache . It has been supposed that some of the abori

gines of Central India have w ool ly hair ; bu t this is a mistake.Among the thousands that I have seen I have no t found one

w ith hair like a N egro . A. few indeed hav e cu rly locks,as a fewB ritons have : bu t I have no t me t w ith one inhabi tant o f thefores t who exhibited any marked resemblance to the A fric anrace. O n the contrary,bo th thei r hair and their features are

decidedly Mango lian .

Dr ess — All are scantily attired ;but what they want in clothing they make up fo r by the abundance o f their ornaments and

beads,of which they are passionately fond .

Clzam cter .—All are endow ed w ith. an av erage share o f intel

ligence and a more than ordina ry degree o f observat ion. Shyin their intercourse w ith s trangers , they are no t . w an ting

courage,w hen there is an understood object to call it . forth.

Truthfu l in. their statements, faithfu l to their promises, and

ob servant of the rights of property among themselves , theynevertheless, do not scruple to plunder those tn whom. they are

under no obligation to -fidelity B u t the great blot on their moralcharac ter is the ir habitual intemperance . Bes ides the ir daily

po tationsg a large quant ity o f liquo r is . an es sent ia l element“ in.

their religous rites. N :o fest ival can. be held in the . for es t or

village in honour o f their de ities ;.no birth,marriage,or death canc

take place in their families,w ithou t an excessive indulgencein ardent spirits. Their. ac ts of. wo rship invariably end inintoxication.

L itera tur e — Among none of our jungle tribes can the slightestapproach to learning be said to exis t. All are dest itute of anyw ritten character of their own and,w i th the except ion of a veryfew individuals w ho have come in contact w ith H indus, theyare en tirely uneducated in any other language.Tillage.

— T he sys tem of cultivation,w hich all prefer, is migratory, like that of the ancient G ermans,and many forest tri besin A sia at the present day. Here it is called Dah i or Dahya,and is essentially the same with the pract ice o f the Torus, of theTerai,of the hill C acharis,the B odos, the Mikirs,the Kukis,theRajmahalis,the Kols,&c . O n the“T

estern G hats, near Sattara,it is known as Dale o r Kumari, and in the mountainous districtso f B urmah it goes by the name o f T oungya. In the ho t w ea

ther they select some spot on a plateau or declivi ty of a hill,onwhich they cu t dow n the brushw ood and lop off the boughs of

the larger trees,and place them in layers to dry. B efore the

beginning of the rains in June they set the‘

whole‘

on fire, and

spread the ashes over the cleared space . O n these, after theyhave been slightly mingled w ith the soil by the first show ers,they scatter a variety of inferior grains, chiefly millet, alongw ith one or two species o f cucurbitaceae. In sow ing the castoroi l plant, and different k inds of pu lse, they u se a tool in someplaces somewhat resembling a hoe. T he crops are no t veryproduct ive the first season ; bu t the follow ing year,w ithout anyfu rther sow ing,they are more abundant. The third year theland is comparatively unremunerative,yielding little but grass ;bu t the houses that had been erected at the place are stillallow ed to stand there until the cultivators have burnt down thejungle on another spot, when they remove th ither w ith theirfamilies and property. They do no t return to an old piece of

ground till after the lapse of about 1 2 years,when they find‘

again covered w ith jungle, and requ iring the same process of

burning and cu ltivation as before . This rude system of farmingis doubtless unfavourable to the grow th of valuable timber. I t

is only on superior soil that Teak thrives, and, of course, theseare the very soils chosen for Dahi t illage.

” A s a necessary con

sequence,Teak falls a sacrifice. This tree, as Captain F . G .

S tuart,late Superintendent of Nagpore Forests,suggests,yieldsa large amount of ash,and our jungle cultivators are speciallyanxious to secure it for manur ing their temporary fields ; or,asthey themselves . allege, its large, broad leaves, catching and

re taining the rain, cause a heavy drip, wh ich Washes ou t the

grain- and hence they rest not t ill it is either cu t down or

deprived of its crown and branches . From such mo tives many

parts of the country have been stripped of the finest forest

Moghul geographers seem t o have included w ith the G onds o fN agpore the Kols on their eas t frontier,and to have been ignorant o f the relationship between them and the inhabitants o f

Bustar . In the nor th,G onds are met with about Saugor and nearthe sou rce o f the H asdo on the eas t, they cross that r iver intoSarguja,where

they border on the Kols, and are found w ithK ondsand Uriyas in N owagudda,K areal,and Kharond or Kalahandi in thes outh,they fo rm the mass of the popu lation ofB ustar and a portion o f the inhabitants o f Jeypur ( in the Mad rasPresidency), while they occupy the hills along the left bank ofthe G odav ery,about N irmu l and on the w est,they are intermingled w ith the

H indus ofB erar for 30miles from the right bankof

the Wurdah, and, along the K'

firs,extend along the hillsboth north and south o f the N arbadda to the meridian of

Hindia,wher e -they give place'

to the B hils -

and Nahals .

In such a large extent o f country,as might be expect ed,theyare divided into various branches,and dis tinguished by specificnames . T he classificat ion adopted by themse l v es is into . twe lveand a half castes or classes,in imitat ion o f the H indus. These areRaj iG ond, ltaghuwal,Dadav e, K atulya, Padal ,Dholi,t yal,Tho tyal,K o ilabhu tal,K oikopal,K olétm,Madyal,and an inferiorsort of Padal as the half cas te . T he firs t 'four,w ith the addition,according to some o f the Kol‘am, are comprehended under thename ofKoitor—e the,G Qnd,pa r aggrellence. T his term,in its radicalform o fKoi,occurs o‘fer a wide being the name,given to

the M erla-sacrificing aborigines of Orissa and to the jungle tribessk irting the east bank of the G odav ery, from the apex of the

delta as far u p nearly as the mouth of the . Indrawati. I ts meaning is ev idently as sociated w ith,

the idea of a hill; the Persianname ofWhich§ ,q L,approaches it mo re closely than ev en, the

goo,Kandd, Iu sed scarcely, therefore,add that it has nocongestionwith the, interrogative K ai

. as some have supposed.

n by that name resent ,of b elonging t o anysacred thread.

o ffl the

ambition, is to them .

The Raj,G ouda are s o, called b ecau se t hey hav e furnished,

from themnumbersmost Q1: t he families that; have attained to .

royal power . TheyareWidely spread ov er the plains and mounmine of: the p rov ince o f?N agpore,and are found in B erar a nd

the jungles south of the Wurdah, as w ell as those nor thof the N arbudda . T he Raghuwal and Dadav e are more limitedin their range, being confined chiefly to the district o f

Chindw a'

ra. These three classes generally devote themselvesto agriculture . They eat w ith each other, but do no t intermarry. The K atu lya, though no t a very numerous class in

regard to individuals, is extens ively scat tered . I t unc ludes

all those who, originally belonging to one or other of the

preceding Koitor classes, have begun to conform to the H indureligion and to ape H indu manne rs . Pro fi ss in fr to be K sha

triyas, they have invested themsel v es w i th a sacred thread,and make great eflb rts to have their claim allow ed, by contracting marriage w ith needy Rajpoot brides . With scrupulousexact itude,they perform the prescribed ablutions of their adopted faith,and carry their passion for purification so far as to

have their faggots duly sprinkled w ith w ater before they are

u sed for cook ing. At the t ime of dinner,if a stranger or a,crow

come near them, the whole food is ‘

thrown aw ay as polu ted .

These practices, which o ther K oitors regard w ith profoundcontempt,are gaining ground among the rich . I t w as only one

or tw o generations ago that the Zem indar, or petty Raja of

K heiragad,—the present bearer of which t i tle still carries in his

features unmistakeab‘ le trades of his G ond origin,—~w as receivedwithin the pale of H induism ;and simi lar t ransformations,thoughat a more distant date, seem to have been undergone by the

royal dynasties of Enstar, Mundla, and various smaller principalities. This tendency to claim connection w ith Rajpoots isnot peculiar to ambit iou s G onds : it prevails among the B h ilsof Malw a,and is no t unknown to the w andering K eikadis of

the Dakhan,,bo th of whom boast of being Yadaw as,or Powars,or some other equally high born section of the Kshatriyas . O n

the other hand, there w as a temptation in the days of Au rangzib,when Mahomedanism w as rampant,to adopt that religion. In

comparison w ith the B hils,how ever,flaw o f the G onds actuallymade the change . The only instance that has come to myknow ledge is that of B akht B uland, the Rajah ofDewagad,w howas c onverted to Islam when on a visit to A urangzib at DelbSt ill his descendants, though adhering to this change of creed,have not ceased to marry into G ond fam i lies ; and hence the pre~sent representative of that regal house is no t only acknow ledgedby the who le race abou t Nagpore as their head and judge, bu tis physically regarded a pure Raj G ouda

T he’

Padal, also named Pathadi, Par’

dhan, and Desai,' is

atnumerous class found in the same ‘ localities as the Raj

"G onds,

t o whom’

ine’

mbers act as religious counsellors

They are,in fact,the bhats of the upper classes, — repeating theirgenealogies and the exploits of their ancestors, explaining theirreligious system,and assisting at festivals, on which occasionsthey play on tw o sorts of stringed instruments, named Kingriand Jantur (yantra) . For their servic es they rece ive presentsof

bcow s or bullocks, cloth, food, and money. The birth or

death either of a cat or dog in their fami ly defiles them ; andfrom this uncleanness they cannot be free t ill they have shavedoff their moustache, purchased new household vessels, andregaled their caste fellows w i th a plentiful al lowance of arrack .

These have assumed the name of Raj Pardhans, to distinguishthemselves from a subdivision of the same class, which is

degraded to the rank o f a half-caste ; consisting of those who inthe vicinity o f Nagpore Speak Marath i,play on w ind instrumentsof brass,and sp in cotton-thread,like the outcast H indus .

The Dholis are so styled from the kind of drum ( dhola ) wh ichthey are in the habi t of beating. They also play on a kind of

w ooden clarionet,named Surnai and at marriages, where theyexercise their musical pow ers, they prompt the w omen whenthey hesitate in their songs . The N agarchis are a subdivisionof this class, whose instrument is the kettle-drum ( nakara ) .These are also known by the name of Chherkya in the morejungly districts ,where they are employed as goatherds . The

w ives of both Dholis and Nagarchis ac t the part of accoucheursin H indu as w el l as G ond families.

The t yal follow tw o occupati that of bards, as theirname implies,and that of fow lers . a re the tw o classes to benext mentioned,they lead a wandering life ; and in the vi llageswhich they pass through, they sing from house to house the

praises of their heroes, dancing w ith castanets in their hands,bells at their ankles, and long feathers o f jungle b irds in theirturbans. They sell l ive quails,the sk ins of a Species of Buceros,named Dhanchidiya,which are used for mak ing caps, and for

hanging up in hou ses in order to secure w ealth ( dhan) and goodluck,and the thigh bones of the same bird,which fastened aroundthe w aists of ch ildren, are deemed an infallible preservativeagainst the assaults of devils and other such calamities . Theirw ives tattoo the arms of H indu w omen. O f this class thereis a subdivis ion, who are called Mana t yal . Laying claimto unusual sanct ity, they refu se to eat w ith any one— G ond,R ajpoot,or even B rahmin and devote themselves to the manufacture of rings and bells,which are in request among their ownrace,and even L ingas and Nandis,which they sell to all ranksof the H indu community. Their w ives are distingu ished by

w earing the cloth of the upper part of the body over themright shoulder,whereas those of the common t yal,and of all

the o ther G onds,w ear it on their left.

The Tho tyal, z'

. e. the maimed, or inferior class, are alsoknown by the more honorable appellat ion of Pendabarya, o r

m instrels of G od . Their songs are in honor of their deities ;bu t the divinity whose service they find most profitable is theG oddess of smal lp ox— the pow er ofMatabeing equally dreadedby H indus and G onds . Hence they are frequently cal ledMatyal,though among H indus they w ish rather to be styledThakurs . They may be seen trav ell ing abou t w i th a kawadover their shou lder, from one end of w h ich is suspended a

bambu box, containing an image of their favourite goddess,andfrom the other a basket, designed to be the receptacle o f grainand o ther gifts . A tambourine ( daph ) is their usual mus icalinstrument . To their sacred occupat ion they add the trade of

basket-making ; while their w oman acquire a knowledge of

simples,and pract ise the art of physio in rural districts .

The K oilabhu tal are the th ird class of itinerants. Their oc

cupation, how ever, is neither of a rehgiou s nor secular k ind,bu t consists in making a profit of vice. Their w omen are dancing girls, in both senses of the w ord. They follow theirprofession chiefly among the H indu s,it being reckoned disreputable by the people of their own race . The Bhima, no t in

cluded in our list,are found in the north-east o f the B undaraDistrict . Though they resemble the K oilabhutal in their habitof dancing in the villages through which they pass, they are

believed to abstain from their open depravity.

U nlike the three preceding,the K oikopal are a settled class,devoted ent irely to the employment of cow -keep ing— Kopalbeing the G ondi corruption of G opal . They have the ep ithetof K oi , i. e. G ondi, prefixed to distingu ish them from otherAhirs living in the prov ince of N agpore, of w hom three sub

divis ions,the Kanojiya G walwanshi, and Malha, speak zH indi,whi le the Dudh G ow ars use Marathi .

O f the remaining tw o classes on the l ist, v iz . the Madyasand K olams . some account shal l now be given.

The name o f the Madya subdivision of G onds* seems to bederived from Mara,the G ondi term for a tree. In B ustar theyare also called Jhorias,probably from Jhodi,a brook . E very

* Inhabitant s of Soonehoor Talook generallyG onds ,'

th a few Holiers . Most of theQonds,i. e. Medias,subsist on roots and flow er of Mho dried in sun, of which latter

where they are w ilder than the G onds commonly so called ;bu t on the B eila Dila H i lls, which r un south-east paralle l tothe G odav ery, and w here they are known by the name o fMadians,they are perfectly savage.

O n the east of Chanda District the men w ear no coveringfor their head or for the upper part of their bodies, and con

stantlygo about w ith a bat tleaxe in their hands . The w omendeck themselves w ith 30or 40 s trings of beads, to which someadd a neck lace of pendant bel ls . Bangles o t zinc adorn theirw r ists, and a chain of the same metal is suspended from thehair,and attached to a large boss stuck in the ear . B ut thegreatest peculiarity connected w ith their costume,is the practice,which prevails in the more remote districts,o f the w omen w earing no clothes at all ; instead of which they fasten, w ith a s tringpassing round their w aists,a bunch o f leafy tw igs to cover thenibefore and behind . The R ev . M r . De Rodt says that thispractice w as repor ted to exist south of the K 61 countryd

whichhe v isi ted about 1 840or 184 1 . His allus ion may refer to t ne

Juangas, who fel l under the personal notice o f M r . Sami e l ’

in 1854 . This custom w as observed by Mr . Samu ells t o exi s talso in Orissa. In his notes on them in the B engal As iaticJo urnal,V olume XXV ,page 295,M r . Samuells states the somewhat interesting fact,that the prac tice is traced up, to the com

mand c f one of their ' deit ies when reproving’

the w omen for

the ir pride . A similar cus tom is said to obtain among theC henchawas that inhabit the jungles betw een the Madians and

Masu lipatam and it did exist till about 30years ago among theH e liers in the vicinity ofMangalur.

In their villages bothies for bachelors are universal . Everywhere they are extremely shy in their intercourse w i th stangers :

bu t on the Beila Dila H ills they flee at the approach of

anynat ive no t of their own tribe . Their tribute to the Rajaof Rustar,which is paid in k ind,is collected once a year by an

officer who beats a tom-tom outside the village,and forthw ithhides himself,whereupon the inhabitants bring ou t whatever

eat 4 seers for ev ery seer of rice . All armed w ith bows and arrow s, and good marksmenGonds and Holiers liv e long abou t Soonchoor . E v en when old they cu t wood, make mat s,and bu ild hou ses — Take.

A thief is beaten ou t , according t o Tuke . The Gonds ar e honest among them selv efl see

Macpherson). Dr. Walker’s fu git iv es robbed.

In B ugs. and Chikhilnada Talook chiefly Gonds .

Dr. Walker’s men said : N ear Bu ster t own dress of Gond s simply a bit of cloth 1s cubit s ‘

long,and 7 or 8 inches broad,called in Hidust ani a. langot i their heads and b odms barefood— rice,and dal of green gram. C oarse cloth brou ght by Mus su lman merchants fromMadras and N agpore to Mar unkah,where blind Bhopal Deo liv ed .

1‘ The B hils hav e bows with bambu st ring,like Medias — Tod,p . 34.

they have to gi ve,and depos it it on a nappointe d spot.

R eligz'

on.—They have one great festival in the jungles,at the

beginning of the monsoon, before they sow their cre ps, fo r

w hich a pries t ( Sendi Manj i) go es round and co llec ts c ontribu tions . The ceremony consists in sett ing up stones in a row,

to represent their gods, daubing them w ith V ermilion, and

presen ting the accustomed offerings . O n gathering in theirc rops,they have a dayo f rejoicing in their respective abodes .

B ir th — The separatio n of a mother lasts for a month,duringw hich no one touches he r,and unless there are grown-u p daughters, she is obliged t o cook for herself.Marriage

— Ou the east of Chanda D is trict the ch ief partof the nupt ial ceremonies is confined to one day. In the morning,about 7,a bow er having been erected near the bridegro om’

h ouse, the tw o young people are led into it and made to s tandu p together,w hen a vessel o f w ater is dashed upon thei r headsfrom above. They then pu t on dry clo thes ,and sit dow n in the‘

m ids t of their friehds,w ho lay on their heads some grains of

r ice . The marriage is completed by an exhortation from the

parents . O n the eas t o f Arpeili Zemindary, w h ich is farthersou th, the ceremony commences in the morning by setting u pat the door of the cow -house a row of carefully washed stones,w i th one in the middle, to represent the

great go d .

”Round

all a thread is passed,and each is honoured w ith a black mark,made w ith a m ix ture o f charcoal and o il. A brass drinkingvessel is placed in front of the ch ief de ity, into w hich eachmarried w oman drops'

four cow ries,w hich become the property of

the principal man o f the vil lage . T hey then present the ir o fferings, burn incense,and spr inkle w ater three t imes before t heirgods, w hereupon they re tire to the h o use fo r refreshments .

A t noon the nuptials are solemnized,commencing w i th the pouring o f Water o n the heads of the young people as before . Theirclothes being changed,and the b ridegroom having received fromt he head man a dagger,which he is to he ld d ur ing the

“ remaind er o f the ceremony,he and his partner are both seated a t the

d oo r w ith the c o rners o f their garments kno tted together ; anda w hi te mark having been applied to the fo rehead of e ach,w ater in w hich safl ron and lime ha v e been mix ed,so as to forma red liquid,is carried round them thrice,as an honorary gift,and thrown aw ay .

T he e lde r people are seated ne ar,and musicand dancing a re kept up for tw o or three hours among the u n

married youth of bo th sexes . I n the evening, at the sound ofthe tom-tom, the people again assemble, and ‘

s imilar rites are“

repea ted,as also on three occasions t he follow ing day. With

the customs in the w ildest parts o f the country I am not

acquainted.

Dea th — When a Mediadies, the relati v es k ill and offer before his corpse a fow l . They then place the body on a bambumat,and four young men l ift it on their shoulders. A ll theneighbours,cal ling to mind their own deceased fathers,pour o ut,on the ground,a handful of rice in their honor ; then turning to

the corpse, they pu t a lit tle on it, remarking that the recentlydeparted had now become a god, and adjure him, if death hadcome by G od ’

s w il l to accuse no one,bu t if it had been causedby sorcery to point o u t the guilty party . Sometimes, it is said,there is such a pressure exerted on the shoulders o f the bearers,that they are pushed f orward and guided to a particular house.T he inmate is no t seized at once ; bu t if three t imes the

c o rpse, a fter being taken some distance back, re turns in the

same directio n,and indicates the same individual, he is appre

hended and expelled from the village. Frequently, also, hishouse shares the same fate . T he body is then carr ied to a tree,to which it is t ied upright and burned amid the w ailing o f the

Spectato rs . Funeral r i tes are per formed a year or eighteenmonths after the cremation,when a fl ag is t ied to the tree w hereit took p lace . After sacrificing a fow l the friends return and

eat, drink . and dance at the expense o f the deceased man’

fam ily f or one o r more days,according to their abil i ty. T he

dancmg is performed by men and w omen in oppo site row s,al ternately approaching to,and receding from,each o ther . O n o ccas ion o f these funeral fest ivit ies it is reckoned no sin for a v irgin to

be guil ty of fornicat ion, though such conduct is strictly fo rbidden at other t imes ; and unfai thfulness in a w ife is punished bythe husband w ith death .

Names o f men : B ursu,K u tmanj i,Mahingu, New ara, Tiya,and We

‘t rlu . Women : Ledi,Mabingi, Masi,Semi,and Tomi .

T he K olams extend all along the Kandi Kondaor Pindi H ills,on the south of the Wu rda R iver, and along the table-lands tretching east and north of Manikgad, and thence sou th to

Dantanpalli,running parallel to the w estern bank of the Pranhita.

T he K o lams and the common G onds do not intermarry, bu tthey are present at each others nuptials,and eat from each othershands. Their dress is similar ; bu t the Kolam w omen w earfew er ornaments,being generally content w ith a few black beadsof glass round their neck . Among their deities,wh ich are the

usual objects of G ond adoration, B himsen is chiefly honoured .

In the celebration of their marriages they fo llow a custom,which

F ood —« They make two meals a day: their breakfast ,Cons is ting g ener al ly o f g rue l,and their s upper o f s ome boiled c oars e

g ra in,w i th pu ls e and v e getables . Occas ional ly this ro u tine isvaried ,when the chas e or a r eligious fes ti val has pro v ided themw ith the flesh of d ear, hog, go at, or fow lsfi

Socia l pos ition- In the plains, w here they are mingled w ith

Hindus, the G onds take rank above Mahars and other outcas ts .

In this honor they are partly indebted to the po li tical influencewhich s ome o f their race have retained up to the pres ent day.

Indignity cannot be heaped on thos e w hos e k indred are knownto be at no great dis tance the owners o f property on w hicheven respec table H indus are content to B ut it mus the confes s ed that the G onds have acqu i red the ir honorablepos ition. in a cons ide rable degree, by yie lding to the prejudiceso f the Hindus . Tho ugh their own princip les admit o f the

s laughter of cow s , ye t, in deference t o the feel ings o f the irmore power fu l neighbours , they abs tain from the p ractice, and,if I m is take no t, do no t partake o f the carr ion, w hich Mahars

are ready to de v ou r . In many cas es the w ish t o s tand w e llw ith the fo ll owers o f the dominant fai th has led them in a

great. measure to emb race it and s urr ender their own ; and

some o f their Thakars o r Zemindars, o r,as they are s ome timescal led,Rafias , hav e u s ed their u tmos t e ndeav ours to be recognis ed as Ks hatryas , by contrac t ing marriages W ith needy Raipu t br ides -gt The family a t K heiragad has s ucceeded in thisat tempt O n the o ther hand, there w as a temptat ion in the

days o f Au ran‘

gz ib, w hen Mahomedanism w as rampant, toado pt that rel igion : and we find that this change was actual lymade by B akht xB uland,t he ances to r o f the R aj a o f Dewaga d .

Stil l the pres ent rep res entati v e o f that regal hous e, thoughadhering t o the change o f creed, has no t ceased to marry intoG ond families— and h enc e is acknow ledged by the whole raceahou t Nagpo r e as thei r head andy

udge. and is,p hys ic ally,a pureRaj G ond . In thei r hil l re treats the G onds a re left to thei r owns tandard o f re spec tabil i ty; bu t when they hav e there ano t her

A t N agpore w omen at 95, a m e at millet ,b read, and d id. Men eat at up on wh en r eleas edfrom w ork , and su p at 9; p m . on v egetables . Husband and w ife don’

t dine t ogether.At Kamptee same hou rs, only early part gruel,made of rice flour b oiled in much wat er. At

night ‘

they eat rice and pu lse .

at I na s a tr anc s w After death o f father family r emain t ogether,or if the sons Wish to

separat e they div ide th e property equally. They may giv e their s is ters s ome o nnamexrt s or

cloth,b ut -t he lat ter hav e n o -share.23: The tendency of the Gond Rajas t o claim c onne ction w ith Rajput s .

p .34 ; and te v en K o oroose— rDr . l fou r . In Aur angziib’

s t ime we find t hese Gond P rincesin M andala,Deoghu r,and Q handa ; and,according t o K atee Khan,the tr ibu te in c ash,Jewels,and elephants taken from t he t wo latter was v eryigrea t ,

—Jenkiu ,p . 4 1 .

j ungle race l iving among them,as on the range of hil ls northo f Ellichpo or, they general ly are the p a téls, or head men of

their v illages ;and their neighbours occupy an inferior pos ition .

Houses and V zllages .

* — When res iding in the m idst o f a

H indu populat ion, the G onds inhabit mud hous es, l ike the inferior sort common in the Dakhan . B u t in the jungles thehous es are of Wattle and daub,w ith thatched roofs . T he internalarrangements are of the s implest k ind, compris ing tw o apartments,s eparated from each other by a row o f tal l baske ts, inw hich they s tore u p the ir grain . Adjoining the hous e is a

shed for buffaloes ; and both hous e and shed are pr otectedfrom w ild beas ts by a bambu fence . T he vil lages are s i tuatedon table-lands, or on s l ight el evat ions above the generall evel of the country, and they s eldom number more than 10

hous es,and more frequently contain only 3or B ut,how eversmall the vi llage may be, one house in it is sure to be the abodeof a distiller of arrack .

O ccupa tions— In the immed iate vicinity of the city of N ag

pore,and of all Brit ish s tat ions throughout the province, theG onds hav e entered into the s erv ice of Europeans as g rasscutters . In rural districts they are employed as as s is tants infarm labor by H indu culti vators, or sometimes plough a few

fields for thems e l v es in the u sual w ay. I n the jungl es, as w e

have s een,they dispens e w ith the plough,and adopt the nomadicsys tem of ti l lage . I n places of mixed population, some of

their w omen add to the ir husband ’

s gains by tattooing the

forehead and arms of H indu females . In the ir own w ilds themen increas e the means of the ir family’

s subs is tence by hunting, in w h ich their chief rel iance is on thei r matchlocks,though in some of the more remote parts they k il l the ir gamew ith arrows,which mos t shoot in the common mode,but o thersin a s itting pos ture,their feet bending the bow , and both handspul l ing the s tring . When they go out on such expeditions,and frequently at o ther times , t hey carry a smal l axe and knifefor lopping off the branches that might obs truct the ir path.

Religion— Though the G ond pantheon includes somewhere

K hond hou ses are of boards plastered inside thatched ; in two rows — Calcu ttaRwiew,V ol . V .,p . 46 . At Hu t ta, in the Bundara Dist rict, the G ond houses are of bambutatt i,daubed with mu d thatched with v eranda ; 2 doors, one front and the other behindno windows div ided by tat t i or by basket s of grain— larger half w ith fl oor,in which theycook and eat ; other dark, in which they keep goods, v essels, &c . Around s ingle hous esis a compound. B ut in the jungle houses are in two row w ith compound beh ind. Theykeep cows, sows, bu ffaloes, fowls,but no horses,excep those who are rich . Gows are

yoked to the plough,where the plough is u sed .0

abou t fifteen gods,yet I have never obtained from one individualthe names o f mo re than seven deities . T hese were BaduDew a ( the great god l, w ho in o ther districts is called B udhalPen ( the old god ),Matiya ( devil o r w hirlw ind ),Sale,G angara( little bells ), o r more properly G agara, Palo, G adawa, andK ham ; o r, as enumerated by ano ther, B adii, Matiya, Salei,G angaro Mal,Palo, Chaw ar,and K ank. T he above lists w erefurnished to me byw orshippers o f seven gods near the Mahadeva Hills. To the “

great”

god, common to all the sec ts,the

adherents o f these deities join K uriyaand K atharpar . B esidesthese, 1 have heard at various times the names of K odo Pen,Pharsi Pen, and Bangaram ; and the R ev . J. Phillips, whov isited the G onds at Amarkantak, mentions Hardal as the

principal object of veneration there .

What are the characters o r offices of these deities, whose

very names are so imperfectly known by their w orshippers,itis vain to inquire from any N ative au thority .

I have been lefttherefore merely to conjec tu re, and w ould w ish my remarkson the subject to be received simply as sugges tions . I t ap

pears to me that Budhal Pen is the same as B u raPen,Tthechief god among the K honds . Perhaps Hardal may be the

synonym near the sou rce o f the N arbadda. Matiyai I w ould

suppo se is a name for the god of small-pox,w ho is also one of

the K hond divinities, and may be identical w ith B angaram,

afterw ards to be mentioned . Sale may probably be the god

w ho presides over cattle-pens ( Salo ) . K u riya’

. maydenote the

deity who takes care of the tribe ( K fil), o r,as it is frequentlymispronounced, ( K fir) . K attarpar may co rrespond w ith the

K atti Pen of the K honds, i. e. the god o f ravines . K odo

Pen is considered by the R ev . J . G . Driberg,in his“ Repor t

on the N arbadda Mission,1 849, to preside over a village,and

Jungco (war or Wild ). Royata is also giv en, t o whom they pray on eighth day of

the B u sara ; make a circle of a pu st i,and in midd le fill j aggery, and make with their hand;

rays like the Sun ’

s,and so make a half moon w ith B humu k, and fry both in oil.

1“ Sun god and Moon god —Ca lcu tta Rev iew, V ol. V ., p. 55 . The B humuk of the

Dew alwada said his god s w ere B himsen and Matad ewa, who,he said,was same as Sun .

B o orapennee, god of light , Supreme in other districts . B ellapennee, Sun god— Chu rch

M ission I nteléigencer .

According t o Lieu t . Hill, the great sacrifices among Khonds take place at fu ll moon of

Pooshum and Maghum .

At Dali3times : on 8th of B u sara,when new rice comes ; 9th of Cheitum,when Mbowa.flowers in Jhiet,before rice s owing.

Among Khonds,to Pattooripennee a hog is sacrificed before sowing.

B oorapennee among dit to is worshipped at rice harv est .

Hill god (Soropennee),i. e. Durgudeo .—0a lcu tta Rev iew,V ol . V .,p . 57.

B urs. Pen is wors hipped once a year,at rice harv est the w orship lasts 5 days : a hogsacrificed .

fMatiya is not known by the thr ee G ond w omen belonging to Nagpore whom I qu est ioned, bu t is considered by Pahad Singh and G adi B awaji t o mean a de v il. I t is the

name giv en t o a whirlw ind,against which Hindu s lift u p their shoe and u tter threatenings .

w ould thus be the counterpart o f the N adzu* Pen of the

K honds . B u t mayit no t signify rather the god who is believed

to bless crops of grain, of which K odo ( paspa lum frumenta:ceum ) among G onds is one

of the chief? The name of Pharsr

Pen,who is represented bya small iron spear-head,may possiblybe formed from B archi, which in Hindi denotes a spear,on

which hypo thesis this deity w ou ld be the equivalent of the

Khond L ohaTPen,the iron god,or god of w ar .

In the south of B undara Distric t the traveller frequentlymeets w ith squared pieces of w ood, each w ith a rude figure

carved in front, set up somewhat close to each o ther. T hese

represent Rangeram B ungarai B ai, o r Devi, w ho is said to

have one sister and fiv e bro thers— the sister being styled Dan

teshwari a name of Kali,and four ou t o f the fiv e bro thers beingknown as G antaram, Champaram and Naikaram,and Po tlinga.

These are all deemed to possess the power o f sending diseaseand death . upon men, and under these or different names seem

to be generally feared in the region east of N agpore City. I

find the name of B ungara to occur among the K ols of Chybasa,

where he is regarded as the god of fe v er,and is associated withG ohem,

Chondu,N egra,and Dichali,who are considered,respectiv ely, the gods of cholera,the itch,indigestion,and death. I t

has always appeared to me a ques tion deserving more at tention

than it has yet received, how far the deities w ho preside overdisease,o r are held to be malevolent,are to be looked on as belonging to the Hindu s or aborigines . Kali in her terrible aspect iscer tainly much more Wo rshipped in G ondwana and the foresttracts to the east and sou th of it,than in any o ther part of India .

As the goddess of small-pox she has at tribu ted to her the cha

racterist ics of variou s aboriginal deities,and it is w orthy of re

mark, that the par ties who condu ct the Wo rship at her shrines,even on behalf of Hindu s, may be either G onds, fishermen,ormembers of certain Other low castes. The sacrifices, too,inwhich she delights would w ell agree with the hypothesis ofthe aboriginal derivation of the main featu res of her charac ter .

A t Chanda and Lanji in the province of N agpore, there are

temples dedicated to her honour, in which human victims havebeen offered almo st w ithin the memory of the present genera

In worshipping Pidzu Pen and B ura Pen Khonds call on B ura'

and Tari and the

other gods .

’l‘ Loha Pen, a piece of iron or an iron weapon is buried ; fowl, rice,and arrack are

ered in grov e. V illage god,N udzu Pen. B oratin K 0 ( Tickell,p . 800) are spirits of the

forefathers of a new lymarried womanw worshipped on the road,inv oked in sickness .

I B ungara,or ram, maybe a deity named tr om Sontai and Ho,—generic word for god .

V . 1 2 . There is a goddess‘

named Pangam - See Tickell,IX .,,p .p. 799, 800. Bhungara~a t ribe among the Waralis.

ion. The victim was taken to the temple after sunset andshu t up w ithin its dismal w alls. In the morning, when thedoor was Opened,he w as found dead,much to the glory of the

great goddess,who had shown her power by coming during thenight and sucking his blood . N o doubt there must have beensome of her servants hid in the fane,whose business it w as to

prepare for her the horrid banquet. At Dantewada in Enstar,situated abou t 60miles sou th-west o f Jagdalpur,near the junction of the Sankani and Dankeni, tribu taries of the Indraw atiin Enstar,there is a famous shrine o f Kali,under the name o f

7K Danteshwari. Here many a human head has been presented

on her altar . Abou t 30years ago,it is said that upw ards of 25

full-grow n men w ere immolated on a single o ccasion by a late

Raja o f B ustar . Since then numerous complaints have reachedthe au thorities at N agpore of the prac tice having been continued,though it is to be hoped that, w ith the annexation o f the

country,it has entirely and for ever ceased . T he same bloodyrite in the w orship of Kali,as w e learn from Majo r MacPherson,prevailed among the immediate predecessors o f the present hillR ajas of Orissa,including those of B oad,G umsur,&c .

Whether B himajLwho byHindu s is esteemed one of their

greatest heroes,is to be regarded as borrowed from that nation,or lent to them,it is difficult to say. O ne thing is certain, that,under the name of Bhim Pen, or B himsen, his w orship is

spread over all par ts of the country,from B erar to the ex tremeeast of B ustar, and that no t merely among the Hinduizedaborigines,who have begun to honour K handoba,Hanuman,G unpati,&c .,but among the rudest and most savage of the tribe .

H e is generally adored under the form of an unshapely stone

covered with vermilion, or o f tw o pieces of w ood standingfrom 3to 4« feet in length above the ground, like those set upin connection with B angaram

s worship.B ut,in addition to the deities generally acknowledged, there

are many o thers who receive reverence in par ticular local

Regarding Manko, compare Indian Rev iew ; where“

it is said that in Jeypnr there isManiksoro— god of war ;bu t afterward s it is remarked that Hindu chiefs before any great

enterpris e u sed to propitiate goddess Maniksoro .

Tooahmool are Meria-sacrificing G onds .The Sontal Marung B ura and his elder brother Maniko maybe our B udhal,or B oyeta

itie s . I t is the cu stom o f the G onds to propitiate,for at least one

year,the spirits o f their depar ted friends,even though theyhav ebeen men of no no te. B u t when an individual has been in anyw aydist inguished,

— if, fo r example,.he has founded a village, or

been its headman o r pries t,— then he is treated as a god for years,

o r it may be generations,and a small shrine o f earth ( Thépana,o r,more properly, is erected to his memo ry,at whichsacrifices are annu ally o ffered .

I t has been stated that the G onds have no ido ls . I t is truethey have no images in their dw ellings,but at the scene o f theirreligiou s ceremonies in the jungle there are for the mo st partsome objects set up, either iron rods, stones,pieces o f w ood, o r

little knobs of mud, to represent their deities . Among these,when there is a number together, the representation of the“great god

"u sually occupies the chief plape .

Though one of their deities is styled the “great g

od,”

yet, if

I may judge o f the w ho le race by w hat I heard in one of their’

dis tric ts,they ho ld that this chief'

of their divinities is to be

distinguished from the Invisible Creator and Preserver of the"

World,o f whom myinformant stated they had a distinct conception,and to w hom,in imitation of the Hindu agricultural po

pu lation,they give the name of B hagawan . Ac cording to ' this’

v iew their “

great god is only the firs t of their inferior god'

Who are all looked on as a sort of media of communication inv arious departments betw een G od and man, though,as is the.

case in every fo rm of polytheism, the near, or visible inferior;receives more attention than the unseen Supreme .

Worship .-T he Creator,as I w as to ld bya G ond in the neigh

bourhood of the Mahadeva Hills,is o ccasionally adored in their

hou ses by offering prayers, and by bu rning sugar ( gul ) and'

clarified bu tter in the fire.

Thep ublic w orship of these forest tribes seems to be con

nec ted w ith their crops. In places,where r icc is produ ced,thereare three great days,when they leave their villages and proceedto . w o rship under the shade o f a Saj or Ein trec ( Pen tap terqt ' rru entosa j r - l st, the day when rice begins to be sew n ; fi nd,w hen the new rice is ready ; and 3rd, w hen the Mhowa treecomes into flow er . T he great festivals among the B odos, ofw hich there are four,appear,in like manner, to be associatedw ith their crOps .

In the w ilder villages, near the Mahadeva Hills, K odo Pen,as w e learn from Mr . Driberg, is w orshiped at a small heap ofs tones by every new c omer, through the oldes t resident,w ithfow ls,eggs,grain, and a

ttfew copper co‘insAwhich become the-f

property of the ofiiciating pries t . B himsen, who is there re

garded as the god of rain, has a fes tival o f fou r o r fiv e days ’

du ration held inhis honou r at the end o f the monso o n, w hen

tw o . poles abo u t 20feet high,and 5 feet apar t, are set u p w ith

a rope attached to the top,bymeans o f Whl t th the boys o f the

village climb up and then slide do wn the mo le . The same. o tte r

ings are . presented to this: god as to K odo Pen, w ith the exception of the money.

Cer emonies connected with B z'

rt/zs .— A w oman remains apart

for thirteen days after her delivery. O n the fifth day afte r the :

o ccu rrence of a bir th, the female» neighbou rs are feas ted : o n the

twelth the male friends are similarly enter tained : and o n the

thir teenth the purific ation is ended by giv ing a dinner t o bo th

parties . T he child is named a month o r tw o laterfi‘

Mar riage— The e

xpediency. o f a marriage is occasionally .

determined byomens . A v essel is filled w ith ,w ater,into whic h

is —

gently dro p ped a grain o f r ice , o r w heat,,in . the name o f the .

respective parties,at. Oppo site sides of the I f these . ap

proache ach~o ther t he union w ill be a happy one,and the mar

riage day;is fixed., Ano ther :

way o f settlmg the qu es tion,is to

consult somemamwith a repu tation fo r sanc tity,. who . sits and.

rolls .his .head;till he appears furio us,when, under su pposed in

spiration,he gives the; answ er . B u t frequently the mat ter. is .

determined by personal. negociation. between the fathers, w ho .

call,in some neu tral parties t o name the sum that should be '

paid .

fo r the bride . This obligation is discharged on the . day o f the.

betro thal,,along w ith a present o f su ch things as are necessaryforh

feasting,the friends assembled at the bride

s father'

s ho use o n .

that occasi

on. O n the day fixed fer the c ommencement . of the .

marriage ceremonies the bridegroom and his father go to the

father-in-law’

s hou se w ith presents . w hich contribu te againto the

en ter tainment o f the guests . N ex t day f

an arbo u r is construc ted

at the bridegroom’

s hou se , to w hich the bride is taken, and"andinner is provided . The ‘ day fo llo w ing , the two young peo ple.after runninground

'the pole seven times,retire to the arbou r and

have their fee t w ashed . Pice (j . e.

-copper coins ) are w a v ed round

the ir heads,and given to the music ians, when the ceremonies

ar e concluded ‘by a feast .

‘ Among G onds of ,Kolit the child is named on 9th day; among the Hind us on 12 th day.

l' This omen is resort ed to among the Khonds to d et ermine a child '

s name— only it.

is “ if grain swim fl at a -particu lar a ncesto r ’

s ' name — Ca lcu tta Rev iew,p . 31,.

V O 1‘ V A few 05

ev eryp las s f —l ou t of. 1 ,000- become celebites,and rare receiv ed among G osains .

Theypu t t u rmeric and then ghee o v er whole body,and on a w oman theypu t Ku ku '

so rcery,“ which is greatly dreaded,and,like the gi'

ps ies in this

c o un try, they are consulted by their more civilized neighbo u rs

on the fortunes o f the fu tu re, w hich they read in the lines o f

their applicant’

s hand . At Mandanpur, abou t 100miles no rthw es t of the c ity o f N agpo re, there is a G ond,named Sonsei,w ho

boas ts o f the po ssession o f miraculou s pow ers . He and‘

sons are engaged in quarrying red o chre, the pro per ty o f a G ond

Rani,who liv es at G andei,s tiil far ther to the no r th-w est . N ear.

his quarry he has erec te da sacred mound to the m ane-s of his

father, w ho w as similarly gifted ; and he u ses the aw e w hich

at taches to this spo t as a means o f exto r ting money from the

deluded Queen. B esides 5-16 ths of the proceeds o f the quar ry,w hich he recei v es fo r the labou r o f himself and family in w ork

ing it, he induces his superio r to send him R s . LO everytw o years,on the pretence that his deified ances to r in the neigh

bou rhood is angry,has turned the o chre m to material o f very,

indifferent quality,and w ill no t be appeased until the s um named

is spent in offerings . T he sum is sen t : a part-

o f it is expendedon, fow ls, a goat, hog, w hich go to the enter tain

ment o f the cunning quarryman, and the remaining rupees gointo his pocket .

N ames of males among the G onds : Bhadu,C hina, Dhanu,G ouda. Jilu,K okarra,Mahingu,Panda,Phaga,Ramman, Riga,Runa,Woja.

O f females : B irjo , B u to ,Jamo, Jango,Mabingi,Mirgo,Peto,R enu , Siikaro , Souaki, Polai,and T umki.

Tribes connected with the Gond s .— B arh

yafs and Halwa’

T he B adiyas are found in the Chindwara Dis tric t,scattered .

from the, tow n o f that name to the Mahadeva Hills . T heyseem to be G onds,w ho retain much o f the ir o riginal cu s tom s,

but have conformed to the Hindu s in language and some. o f.

their religiou s Observances . T hey w o rship the gods o f the ir

ances to rs under the shadow of the Saj tree ; bu t they hav e

ado pted,

the -use of idols of stone and brass, w hich they keepin their hou ses,and carry ou t only on the recurrence of the ir

fes tivals,which are the same as those of the G onds. Exceptin rare. cases,they burn the bodies of their deceased relatives,and throw the ashes into an adjo ining river . They observe

Sorcery— See also the B eiges of Phillips, though s ome reckon them simply a d ist inct

race . The t as are bird cat chers and exorcis t s . G oj Raj omens compared yn th Rhonda -jC'a lcu tta Rev iew, p V ol . V . Numbers of u nfo rt unat e persons fall V l ct ims t o bell ef m

w itchcraft .- Tuke,p .p . and 807. (Ragapar). Div iner.— T uke,p p. 802 and 803. Sicknes s be

liev ed t o come from su pernatu ral c ou rse — Calcu tta,Rev iew,V ol. V .,p . 50. In Pondacole m amcians are bu rned : three w ere so treated at Pip ulpanka in 1834

-35 .— 0alcu tta Ren ew, V ol. V .,

“2 1

more of the Hindu feasts than is done by the great majorityo f the G onds .

T he Halwas* form a pretty numerous body in the districts ofB undara and Raepore and the dependancy of Bustar. In

these parts of the country they seem to occupsimilar to that of the B adiyas to the no rth-w est ofthey have perhaps still more imitated the mannerdus . They wish to hold a respectable place in their village;and eagerly covet the distinction of w earing a sacred threado ver their shoulder. This privilege, till recently, w as sold to

those in B ustar by the Raja o f that principality, and such mayhave been the beginning of the practice among those in the

more civilized parts of the country . B u t even there they still

retain the custom of offering w orship to their deceased ances

tors,and presenting at their tombs the usual number of earthenware horses .

Admitting the identity o f their origin with that of the G onds,among whom they at present dwell, it is difficult to explainthe abandonment by these B adiyas and Halwas of their mothertongue . Their case, how ever,is no t singular, for the G onds of

Amarkantak have also laid it aside, although it is generallyspoken in the distric t to the w est of them as far as Jubbu lpore.

B u t in this instance w e can see the reason of the change.

Lying in the highway between the plains of Chu tteesgurh and

Sohagpore,they have constant intercourse w ith the Hindu merchants,who pass by that route,and have thus come to be morefamiliar w ith their language than their own.

Gditz‘

Gonds .

These call themselves also K oitars,and are as much Goudain language and everything else as those who are known no

other name. Their chief peculiarity,which I have not

among common G onds,though it may exist even among them,is to have in each v illage a separate tenement set apart forthe occupancy of unmarried men during the night. This theycall agotalghar ( empty bed house) and answers to the dékfia chungof the hill C acharis and the N agas,and to morang amongAbot sor Padans . In some villages there is a. like provision madefor the unmarried Gaiti women. Mr . Samuells,who has givenus some interesting information regarding the Jnangas of Orissa,doubts the report he had heard of similar establishments existing among them but I have been assured by my friendDr . Shortt,that he found them in the villages which he visited

Halwas Won ’

t kill bisonpr buffalo . In Soonchoor they are mixedWith a preponderanceof Gonds (Marrees). Halwas are mixed in Jeypur ( Tuke)with Uriyanand Gonds .

in Keonjur. When the Gaitis have returned in the ev eningfrom their w ork in the jungle,where they are very industriousin cultivation and cu tting timber, all the families go to theirrespective houses for their supper ;after which the young menretire to their common dwelling, where, around a blazing fire,they dance for an hou r or two, each having a small drumsuspended in front from his waist,Which he beats as he movesabout,while the young women sit at no great distance aecom

panying the performance w ith a song .

Religion— The worshippers of six deities could enumerate

Budhal Pen,Saleng,Gagaral, R ayetal, and Pu rjal : bu t those,who are devoted to seven,could no t mention more than K odiya,Supari Dewa, Sakra Bai, and Dewa Dula,without having re

course to Hindu divinities.

Their great festival seems to be after the ingathering of the riceharvest,when they proceed to a dense part of the jungle,whichno w oman is permitted to enter, and where,_

to represent the“great god,

”a pice has been hung up enclosed in a piece of

bambu . Arrived at the spo t,they take down the Copper B udhalin his case,and selecting a small area abou t a foot square undera tree,to be cleaned,they layon it the pice,before which theyarrange as many small heaps or handsful of uncooked rice . as

there are deities worshipped by them. The chickens brou htfor sacrifice are loosed and permitted to feed on the rice, aherwhich they are killed and their blood sprinkled between the

pice and the rice. G oats are also offered,and their blood pre

sented in the same manner. Until~

prohibited by the Hindus,sacrifices of cows were also common. O n the blood,arrack is

poured as a libation to their deities . The pice is now lifted

and put in its bambu case,which is shut up w ith leav es, w raptin grass,and returned t o its place in the tree,to remain there till itis required on the following year.

N ames of males : K anbu,K oksha,K opa,Maharu,Pundi,and

O f females : G ursi,K onj i,K onsi,Mahari,Masi,Milo,Minku,Silo,and Tursa.

These are more civilized than the Mat ias. Theyform the

the agricul tural population in the n orth and centre of

the Bustar dependency. B eyond the east frontier,howev er,wherethey mix with the K honds in Patna,K harond,and Jeypur, theyare somewhat Wilder,and devoted to the chase. With their

long hair tied in a knot behind,and their spare arrows hangingdown from it by the barb between their shoulders, they pursuethe deer of their fores ts,and at short distances (according to

Lieutenant Hill) seldom miss in their aim. In these districtsthey are evidently immigrants, having come from the plainson the w es t,where they are separated from the Khonds by the

physical character of the country,which w ould allow peculiarities of manner and language to spring up betw een the neigh

bouring tribes , E ven now . however, the two are not muchmore distinct from each other, than are the Gaitis from theadjacent Marias . In B ustar the Moria villages generally C OD-1

tain individuals of a different race, as w e find to be the.

caseamong the K honds . And here we meet w ith the distillersof the Eas tern Ghats,under the identical name ofSundis ;and the,

Gahindas of the same district are represented by the Ganda’

who act as K otwals and weavers for their villages .

Religion-I do not possess detailed information regarding,

the mythology of the Morias bu t from the names,Gagaru andK odal,bo rne bytheir males,I would infer that they have somew hat the same gods as are recognised in the vicinity of N agpore30ity. Maj or Charles E lliot s tates that their most commondeities are the earth goddess, the hill god, and B him Pen.

O f the firs t two there are no images in use : but a small hut,s imilar to those erected for the accommodation of the tiger

god in the jungly dis tric ts of the Dakhan, is s et apart for thepeople o ffering arrack and sacrifices in their honou r. B eforethe tw o pieces of w ood, representing the third, w o rship isregularly performed previous to the period of s owing. . O f

cours e,in every village,as in the other parts of the province,B hawani comes in for her . share of supers titious reverenceunder the two forms of the small-pox goddess ,and Match or

Danteshwari the counterpart of the great Kali at Dantewada.

Marriage— The marriage ceremony combines certain cus

toms that w e have already had to notice. As in the northw es t of Chindwara, the expediency of a match is decided bywhat may be called the attraction omen. At the time appointed for the union oil and saffron, which have been em

ployed in the w orship of B him and the small pox goddess, are

brought from their shrines,and used to anoint'

the bride and

bridegroom ; who are then attired in the u sual coarse c loth o f

the country,and have a yellow thread tied round their w ris t ;water descends on their heads in the bower ; their clothes areknotted together ; and sometimes they run round

‘the marriage

pole. o

N ames of males : B adal,B uka l, B ayal,Dhola,Dhod1Gagaru ,G edi, Higal, Judahal, K od

al, M alal, Mulai, M I,M u

gsial, O dhi, Pichke, Samar u,Surka. Suv aL

Females . G agari,Hinge, Jlidahi,K odo, Kani, Sukali.

A tt it ude Gonds .

These have more than any o thei section o f their race con

formed to Hinduism . They inhabit the jungles on the nor th

and sou th banks of the Pain G anga, bu t especially abound in

the tract betw een Dign1 as and m arkhed . They are found

abou t Aparawa Pe t,and as Far as N irmul, from whence,intermingled with Hindus,they are scat tered westwa1 d nearly to

B idar. O f all the subdivisions of the Gond race, with the

exception of the Halwas and p erhaps,the B adiyas, they havethe mo st been influenced byHinduism . They dress l1ke Hindus,and will no t eat beef. Some partly suppm t them selves by thep roduce of the chase,which provides them w ith the flesh of

the antelope, elk,and wild hog, and partly bycolle c ting honey,wax, and lak fo r sale .

I he po o rer classes earn a bare subsis

tence by c utting w ood and grass . In the more considerable

villages they cultivate land, and are employed by patels o r

headmen as sipahis . N one of them have abandoned their

aboriginal love fo r liqu o r. They are a terror to their neigh

bou rho od by their dep reciations .

Religion- Anc es to r-w o rship forms an impo rtant part of

their religion. They also acknowledge as deit ies B himsen and

R ajuba, no t to mention those dreaded by the Hindu s as well‘

as the forest tribes of'

their part o f India —Waghoba, thetig er god, and Marai, the cholera goddess . In the month of

C heitra these G onds go on a pilgrimage to Sasarkund, a poo lin the Mahu r j ungle, in w hich the Pain G anga is said to be

engulphed . Here in a go 1ge thei c 1s a huge stone rising ou t

of the ground and cov e i ed with vermilion,which goes by the

name of B himsen. In front of this, N aiku de G onds mingle

with Raj G ond s and Kolams in acts of ado ration . The order

of the religious service s eems to be the fo llowing : at 5 p .m .,

having c ooked a lit tle ric e,the worshippers place i t before the

god, and add a little sugar . T hey then besmear the stone

with vermilion,and bu rno

l esin as incense in its honou r ; afte r

w hich all the parties o ffer their vic tims, consisting of sheep,hogs,and fowls,with the u sual lib ations of arrack . The god 18

now suppo sed to inspi1 e the Puj ari, who rolls abou t his head,leaps frantically round and round, and finally falls down in a

t 1 ance,when he declares whether Bhimsen has ac cepted the service 01 no t. At night all j oin in drinking,dancing,and beating

their tom-toms. Early in the m orning they partake of a meal

and depart fo r their own hou ses . Tho se who are no t able to

go to the place of pilgrimage repair to the shade of a Mbowa

tree, where they go through similar rites . Rajuba is wo rshipped in the month of Kartik, with ceremonies somewhat

like the above . The tiger god is ho noured with a jatra, o r

gathering ,of two days at the Village of Pipalgaum, sou th o f

M ahur, w here Hindus, as w ell as G onds, take part . O n the

5 th day of Shraw un a feast, named Jambatas, is celebrated bythe latter in their own dwellings ; bu t to what god I am un

able to say.

T he services of a B rahmin are c alled in to name their

child ren and to celebrate their marriages, which always take

place b efo re the par ties have come to years of discretion .

T he infl uence of Hinduism is also seen in the p rohibitionag ainst the remarriage o f their w idows .

The dead ar e either burned o r buried . T he relatives are

unclean for two days . O n the third day, the manes are w o r

shipped in the usual G ond manner ; and on every Satu rday,and feast day thereafter,they are treated to incense and some

of the family food .

N ames of males : B heisi, B hu tiya, G ontiya, G unaj i, Jha

diya, Manaj i, Raji, Sambhu, Satwa, and Weighee

Females : Ebimi, Ghimmi,Eiti,G adin,G angi,Housi, Jaggi,M ukhi, N o usi, Rukhma,Satai, and Yemnai.

Abor iginal tribes sep a r a te f rom the Gonds .— Kara.

We come now to a race, in language at least, qu ite distinctfrom any that have engaged ou r at tentio n, — a race in that re

spec t not allied to the Dravidian sto ck, bu t to the familywhich numbers among its members the K 61 nation . Withthe name o f this last mentioned nation, the w ord Kfir,or K ai

as it ought properly t o be pronounced, is ew dently identical,the hand 0 being frequently interchanged,as in G ond or G und

Oriya o r U riya. T he Kurs are found on the Mahadeva Hills,and,westw ard in the fo rests on the Tapti and N arbadda, until

they come into contact with the B hils , O n the MahadevaHills, where they have been much influenced by the Hindus,they prefer the name o f M uasi, the o rigin o f which I haveno t been ab le to ascertain : unless it b e that the word is

derived from the Mbowa tree . Their food is o f the most

meagre kind . T hough they bave no o bje c tion to animal food,

yet a c onsiderable po rtion o f their diet consis ts o f a g ruel

mad e from the pounded kernels of mango es and flowers of

the”

Mbowa tree.

Religion— The chief objects of their adoration are the sun

and moon,rude representations of which they carve on woodenpillarsfi

“ After reaping their crops, they sacrifice to SultanSakada,whom they suppose to have been some king amongthem in fo rmer times .

A feas t . is generally prov ided on the dtb or 5 th day aft er a

birth, and :

withou t any further ceremony the father, in the

cour se of a month o r two,gives a name to his child .

As among the B odo s,or, to quote amore illu st riou s example;like Jacob of old, a K ur bridegroom, in the absence of the

money demanded for his bride, comes under an obligation to

serve his father-in-law for a cer tain number of year s . The

marriage ceremonial,which, like that of the Gonds, includesthe tying of garment s together and the running round a poleor Mbowa tr ee, concludes on the third day with a feast and

dance ; du ring which the newly married pair are carried about

for some time on the backs of two of the company.

In some cases the dead are bu rned ; bu t, fer the most part,they are interred with their head towards the sou th. N eartheir villages they have a place appointed for bu rials,where,after having offered a goat to the manes of the deceased, theyset up a rude representation of him in wood about 2 feet abovethe ground . There worship continues to be paid for at least

a ear .

{V ames of males : B endu, B onga, Dhokol, N aru, Sukali,Surprai, and Tuta.

Females : B atro,Badam, Irma,Jaso,Manj 1bakan, Pundiya,

Conclusion.

In looking over the v ocabularies, which I have collectedfrom the dialects of the above tribes, I find that among the

words used by the different subdivisions of the G ond race thereis the utmost similarity, and that these,with the exception of.

vocables of the K o lam and N aikude G ond dialects, agreemore with the distant Tamil than the neighbouring Teloogootype of Dravidian Speech. The dialects excepted,while exhibiting proofs of the modifying influence of Teloogoo,retain enoughof their original structure to show that they also were once

more closely allied to the Tamil. In the additional list of wordsderiv ed from a wandering tribe,named K eikadis,whose, rou te

39According to Mr . B u llock,wooden pillars,with horse,sun,and moon,set up before houseoi married people. N ahals are not allowed music at their weddings. N ahals on nor th east

K hand eish .

The Scythian origin of,K o.rs and of Gonds might perhaps be inferred from K odo Pen,and

earthen horses, which are ofl’

ered instead of liv ing sacrifice. G onds don'

t use ho rses or

ponies much .

From a let ter from the Ac ting P rincipa l A s sis tan tC o llec to r,t o the Act ing C o l lec to r at G anj am, d a tedl et ult imo,“

i t appears that the weapons used by the

Sowrahs are mad e by a par t icular cas te ca lled lA r isi Paid iv a llu.

’O rnament s worn by Sow rah

women are pu rchased in the fa rm below the ghau ts .

Theyare obiedymad e of brass and t in. They wear

white and red bead s on their n ecks . The seb read s a re pu rchas ed in the fairs below the ghau ts,and are wo rn bo th by males and female s .

Theyd o no t make u s e of iron o r brass v es sels ”

fo r ;cooking and o ther purpos es . They us e common

ear then po ts. Some of the Sow‘

rahs buy? cloths iin the farm below. C lo ths manufac turned

in the

hills are of a v ery c oarse k l lld . A woman’s c l o th 18

genera lly3 cub its long and I t cubits broad . A '

m au’

s c lo th is 6 t o 7 cu b l ts in leng th : and half a

cubism bread th . E ach cos ts a bou t hav

lf a Rupee”I n the hills, c lo ths are manu fac tuied by

. « the

Paid les .

’The faces of t hes e c lo ths a re made

of red coloured co t ton. Sow rahs mak e their own

agr icul tu ra l imp lemen t s,s uch as plo ughs,yok es,650.All these th ings u sed by Sowrahs ( t he n mnage r

p erhaps mean s s pec imens of them) wil l cos t abo ut6 38 4 and theycan be mad e into a , pack ag e and

sen t by s teamer. Sow rabs bu rn the'

ir dead t oge ther .

w ith a ll the th ings tha t ha v e been in their use, v r: lo rnamen ts, weapons, c lo chs, and aftenv ard s l

bury the ashes and the remains o f the bu rnt weapons,(t o. O v er t his bur ing place they raise a ho use .

which remains for a ou t a year o r so. I t is no t"known whe ther anyth ing will be found if any o f theo ld burial places a re new O pened. E v en if anythingw e re to he found; it w il l be qu ite ou t of s hape, as i t

Will ha v e undergo ne the proce ss o f b eing fi rs t bu rn t

and then bu ried in the eart h for a long t ime.

Sowrahs also wear brass and o ther kinds o f r ings in

the ears t he ir women w ear brass K od iyahi,’ l

Andelu,’ &c ., on the legs and b rass bracele t s on lt he arms . A ll these will be abo u t 4

Rupees and 12KAnnas in v alu e .

PAR T II .—V O CAB U L AR Y.

N ote by the Editor .

THE follow ing V ocabulary of the unw ritten dialects of theaboriginal tribes is in all essential particu lars the same as that

left by Mr . Hislop, bu t has been re-arranged for this publication. In his manu script, the alphabetical order of the w o rds

w as not follow ed, though doubtless this w ou ld have been donehad he lived to complete his w o rk .

He classified the E nglish

w ords according to subjec ts,beginning With nouns,w hich supplied the names of the primary obj ec ts of observation ; su ch as

the elements,the prominent features in the face of N ature,theminerals, and so on ; then the relations in the human com

munity, the members of the human body, the bru te creation,

the vegetable w orld . N ext came numerals and adverbs . Thencame a fairly large selection of adjectives, and,lastly,of verbs .T he English words having been thu s classified,the design

was to ascertain and record in the Roman character theequivalents in eleven unw ritten dialects, namely G ondi,G ayeti,Entluk,N aikude . K olamiMadior Maria,Madia,K uri o rMuasi, K eikadi, Bhatrain, and Parja. Also in juxtapos itionwere to be entered the equ ivalents in the Teloogoo and

l amil

languages . I t w ill have been seen from the E ssay that M r .

Hislop considered that some affinity w as discernible betw een

some of these aboriginal dialects and the T am1l.

B u t this classification by subjects, however conv enient forthe rough draft of a v ocabu lary, in which the w o rds w ou ld be

entered as they w ere ascer tained from these w ild people in the

sequence of ideas, w ou ld not be suited for publication,w henthe objec t is to facilitate reference . I t has, there fore, been

necessary to re arrange all the w ords stric tly in alphabe ticalorder.In several par ts o f the manuscript V ocabu lary, there are

breaks and blanks where the w ork w as left unfinished . Andfor the v erbs, the equ iv alents are only given in the K u ri o r

Muasi, and no t at all in the ( r O Hdl and the o ther dialec ts .

All the break s and blanks in the G ondi have been fi lled upfrom information obtained at Nagpore, which can probablybe relied on. But it has no t been possible to supp ly satisfactorily the deficiencies in the o ther dialects. This much,therefore,is u navoidably left wanting.

T he V o cabulary thus made up com rises some 36? w ords.Though perhaps tolerably full for s isunw ritten dialect, it

probably does no t contain a ll the w ords actually .n use, or

o therw ise ascer tainable. Indeed there are o ther and additional w o rds u sed by, o r known to, the G onds o f N agpore .

These have been recorded ; bu t they have no t been insertedin this V o cabu lary, as it seemed better no t to enia rge M r.

Hislop’

s plan, bu t to leave it in its originality as much as

possible .

T he Telo ogo o and Tamil w ords hav e also been entered as

given by M r . H islop. Se v eral o f the coincidences w ith theT amil w ill be fou nd to be m teres ting and impor tant . In addi

tion to w hat is said on this po int in M r . Hislop’

e E ssay,I w ou ld addiice the fo llowing passage from the preface to H. H.

VVilson’

s Sanskrit G rammar

"In the sou th o f India cultiv ated languages of local origin

are me t w ith, largely supplied w ith w o rds which are no t of

Sansk rit o rigin . T here, how ever, as in the nor th, the intro

duc tion o f Sansk rit w as the precursor o f j civ ilization, and .

deeply impressed it w ith its ow n peculiarities . T he spoken

languages w ere cu ltiva ted in imitation and rivalry, and bu t

par t ially aspired to an independent literature . T he principalc ompo sitio ns in T eloogoo, Tamil, C anara,and Malayalam,aret ransla tions o r paraphrases from Sanskrit w orks .

In this p assage, Telo ogo o and Tamil are clearly recognisedas abo riginal languages .

In this V o cabulary, also, many w ords appeared to“

be bor-frow ed from the Sanskrit,and w here this is seemingly theCase,I ha v e no ted it in the column o f rema rks .

Some wo rds, also, nownatu ralized in the G ondi,such as the

names o f the su p erior so r ts o f w eapons, are taken from the

H indo o s tanee, and w ere probably learnt by the G onds fromthe Mahomedans .

Among Mr . H islop’

e papers w as found a printed copy Of

the narrativ e o f a second visit to the G onds of the N erbudda‘

territo ry by the R e v . J . G . Dr iberg and the Rev . H . J.

Har rison in 1 849, to w hich w as appended a grammar

v o cabu lary o f their language. Doub tless Mr. Hislop 1n

tended to compare, or mayhave ac tually compared,that vocabulary w ith his manu scripts . B ut there is no record of suchcomparison to be found . The comparisonhas now been made,and may po ssess some interest, inasmuch as the G onds whom

M r. Driberg met w ere those inhabiting the outskir ts of the,

N erbudda V alley to.the nor th o f, or on the northe

rn face o f

the Sau tpoora, or Puchmurree,or Mahadeva 111118 5

whereas

the G oods whomMr. Hislo‘p met were those dw elling to the

sou th of the range, and sep arated by mountain barriers fromtheir northern brethren. Some w ords given in one vocabularyare no t found in the o ther,and v ice v ersé ; bu t,on the who le,that byMr . Hislop is much the more complete and copious ofthe tw o . In many instances there is full agreement ; in some,

partial resemblance ; and'

in some,difference . In every instanceI have « no ted the result of the comparison in the column of

remarks .

In reference to the short grammar given byMr . Driberg,itmay be added that M r. Hislop do es not appear to have c ommenced the preparation of anygrammar,though doubtless hewou ld have done so had he survived.

Also among Mr . H islop’

s papers was found a printed copyof the transac tions of the B ombay G eographical Society ofthe year 1 846, w hich contained an account of the G onds ofthe G awil hills on

,the nor th o f B erar, by Ass istant Surgeon

B radley, then of the N izam’

s Infantry . T o this account wasappended a vocabulary o f the dialec t of the t ribes inhabitingthose hills . This, no doubt, w as intended byM r. Hislop forpurposes of comparison, though no reco rd o f such has beenleft . I find, how ever, on comparison that the w ords do not

generally agree w ith the G ondi properly so called, nor withthe G ondi w ords as given by Mr . Himp and M r. Driberg.

B ut they do agree to a considerable extent w ith the K uri orMuasi w ords as given by M r . Hislop, and w ith the w ordsgiven by o ther au tho rities, as spok en by the K oork

us,and bythe tribes inhabiting the hills to the sou th of Ho shungabad .

T he result of this latter comparison has no t been given inthe column o f remarks in the H iISOp V ocabulary now underconsideration ; but has been treated of in another part of thispublication.

S UPPZW EA/T TO THE HYSLOP V OOAB ULARK,AS RM PE CTS

TE E GON DI DI ALE CT O N L Y.

Au tumn

Abuse Rangana Awake

K arawullana

Activ e

Adopted son K oratai aitoor chhav a Bard Pataree

Adore Poonjakiana

Afternoon

B arren Wanj ooli

Agree (V ) ayana B athe

Aimd?) wai kim

B att leaxe

Annual B eads

Another

Appear

Armpit B eauty

Ascend

B — continued. Catt le

B eliev e (v ) Man tatana Cease

Change

N aree dohta Chaste

Chastise (v )

B etroth Chirp ( v )

Paror C lear (v )

B loom Poongaroayana. Targana

B osom Chhati K utka

Kharo Cocoanut

B rav e Colour

B read C onquer

B reast

B reath o o Waree,N aiskana Count ry Dess,Dehar

Yaina (Mother’s bro :t ther

e son)Jhalka manta Gunem {

LTammo (Father’s

[doB rother-in-law Sairndo K oko (wife’

s Creepbrother)

B rown B hurka C ripple

Jhoorpuree

G ondi.

D .— cont inued . En ter Wasi handana

Aptikiyana. E rr (v ) B hu lai matana

Daughter-ia -law K orinl E scape '

Soddaisihundana ‘

Dawn Pehto E v enm

D earth Ankro B u rte

Kho le

u Ku rs

Destroy B urtai kiana Faithfu l Sooda

Katana.

n G aday Family Ku tum

Distant ‘

Luk Famine Mahang

Umana Father-in-law Mu riel

Dread V aritana Teehtana

Dream K anchkana Pundana

Dress (v ) Pendana Fev er Y“

Driv e Hakle kiana Tarotana

N eihetam

Drown Muru tana Puttana.

VV attal Pehlo

Dwell Mandana Flint Garee

Pohaymayana

Mes Flow (v ) Pong-in-tana

Elephant Paritana

N ehna

Enemyr Dandi Khotal

English . G ondi.

P .- con tin«ued Hasten Lahki kiyana

Forenoon Hatchet

Forest Kaira,Dongur B u rte kiana.

Bhu le mayana Hav e E rana

Dam tindane Neben ayana

Hear t o o B oka

u Kahlaimat

Fragrant o Moorw ing

Friend 0 Asrokiana

Fruit 0 To le

Mat te.

G irdle Nuri dohta Jeana

N ehna Phukey

Dawning Hunger

G randfather Tado Hunt Shikar

G raze Mehtana Hu rt K hosre

G rov e C urbs.Hu sband M uido

Hang (v )Jackal Kolial

Misre mayana

Harv est Dyana,Dehkana

Kind le

Like (v )

G ondi.

o o I rrana

Massiana

Ku ral

B urra-na.

Tongurotek kiana

Su rie

Gat teo

u Patru

u Pujjat

lrsiyana.

Ju roo

o Lu tkowamkana

o o Jiwa

Tahtana

Dilte wayana

Silv i

0 Pissana

Hurana

Khowakiana

Khoe mat

Madness

Midday

Morning

Mo ther

Mo ther-in-law

Mount (v )

Mou se

Mu scle

Mu sic

G ondi.

o Pise

Makaik,Making

0 o K id /fl at

Marmingkiana

K handk

Dopuhri

Milaykiana

Sukkare

Tu rgana

Yelle Mesa}

B ujanaikana

Ku ttake‘Pallo,Parol

Gondi pu llo

Panther

Par rot »

Pastu re

Perspire

Pursue

Ple i-gh

Powder

Parobaso

Quiv er

Reside

0 0 Jora

Cheetal

Handana

Akur,G ohtaaa

Lokoork

Aipurepasitana

0 o Wit tana

0 o PU ddy

o o Patari

0 o B u rko

Gadu stana

o Tarotana

Jhapua

K hurro

Mandana.

Restore

Rotten

Sacrifi ce

Sav age (adj

Scream

Season

Seldom

Serv e

G ondi .

Malochiana

Gb okote,O ojo

B orsana

o o K aliaua

Tonging

c o G urbare mayana

o o K aritana.

0 o Karita

0 olhfaiaikiam

Soritana

Tamihsiana.

VVar oo

Warwat

K e i e matal

Pisutana

Indana

o K ilit ana

Ghalumb

B apore

R ohtana.

Agrokiana

T .— contv

Wander

Waste (v

Wedded

Winter

o Possua Wither

Chaitomandwna

Wonder

K astal World

0 B oortai kiana Worm

e Kaipana Worship

Marming kiana Wres tle

G ondi.

o Marmina

Pieni Ghalumb

00 Landgal

N ote by the Editor regarding the Mudsz’

, or K ar i,dialect.

I 'r w ill have been seen that Mr . Hislop in the E ssay pointsou t that the K fi rs,or Muas is, are dis tinct from the G onds, at

leas t in language ;and that K uri,or Muasi,is no t,as may havebeen supposed by s ome, a dialect of G ondi. ~ M r . Himp indicates that the error may have arisen from expres sions u sed byDr. V oys eywhen,many years ago . he supplied a brief v ocabu

lary of the language spoken by the tribes o f the hills lyingbetw een Ho shungabad and B erar . This region is believed tobe the real home of the Kurs,or Muasis .

The vocabulary which Dr . V oysey gave in 182 1 is to befound in V ol. XI I I , Par t I ., of the Jou rnal o f the AsiaticSo ciety . Several of the w ords agree w ith the K uri, o r Muasi,as given byMr. Hislop .

Dr . B radley ’

s lis t has been adv erted to in this publication ina p rev io us N o te ( s ee Preface

' to the His lop V o cabu lary ) . Manyof tho se words also ag ree w ith the Muasi in Mr . Hislop

s V ocabulary.

In 1 863, Maj or Pearson ( the Cons ervator of Fo res ts in

the Central Provinces) furnished to Mr . His lop a few words

spoken by the K o orku s,whom he c onsiders to be the s ame as

theMuas is and that memo randum is found among Mr . His lo p’

papers . A few o f the K oorku words agree wit h those in Dr .

B radley ’

s lis t.

In 1 865 Mr . C.A. Ellio tt, Settlement O ffi cer of Ho shunga

bad, transmitted a Memo . on the K oorku s o f K alibhee t ( in thehills sou th-wes t of Hoshangabad), to w hich a short vo cabu laryis attached . O f these w ords,many agree w ith those given byMr . His lop and the o ther offi cers above mentioned .

For many of the K uri w o rds then, there are data obtained

byvariou s pers ons at variou s times and places,and I have causeda comparison to be entered o f the points of agreement .

P A R T II I . S O N G S .

N ote by the E ditor on the Gond Songs .

THESE Song s w ere reduced to w riting in the G ondi

language byM r. H islo p in his own handw riting. He ob tained

them from a Pardhan pries t o f the Gronds at N agpo re . Havingmade a very comp le te and accu rate co py in G ondi, in the

Roman charac ter o f cou rse, he began to transla te by enteringover each G ondi w o rd the counterpart in English . B ut at his

death he had proceeded o nly a sho rt w ay w ith the las t named

par t of the task . I I is t rans la t io n d id no t c ompris e a fou r th

o f the whole— and e v en then it w as only in de tached fragments ;

and in no place w as it consecu t iv e . B u t,inasmuch as he had

redu ced to w riting these lengthy Songs w ith s o mu ch care,itSeemed very des irable to b ring into an a v ailab le and intelligible

shape,

an unfinished w o rk, w hich he regarded as o f much

impor tance, as evidenced by the admirable indu s t ry which hemu st have dev o te d to it. Moreo ve r it w as fo und qu ite possibleto do this,inasmuch as the very Pardhan w ho rec ited the Songs

to Mr . Hislo p w as s till at N agpo re ; and being versed bo th inHindi and Mahrattee,w as able to interp re t the G ondi w o rd forw ord,into those languages from which the rende r ing into English

w as easy. M o reover, assis tance w as obtainable from the Rev .

B aba Pandurang ( of the Free Chu rch o f Sco dand Mission),whow as M r . H is lo p

e na tiv e assis tant, and his companion in severaltou rs,and w ho frequently w as employed byM r. Hislo p in obtain

ing info rmatio n. I, the refo re, en t ru s ted to Mr. I’and urang,as

being specially qualified, the task o f comparing M r . H is lc p’

manusc ript w ith the rec ita tions o f the l’ard han, and o f asc er

taining the English equiv alent fo r every w o rd .

Thu s is repro inced M r. l l il p’

s manu scrip t o f the G ondi,w ith M r. Pandurang

s equivalent in E nglish en tered over eachiv ord.

From this detached verbal translation I have myselfpreparedthe follow ing co ns ecu tive Englis h ver s ion, adhering as nearlyto the original as may c ons is t w ith the easy u nders tanding o f

the sense, and p res e rving the p recise o rder of the lines . And

I have supplied no tes explaining the pas sages which s eemed

to need explanation .

The Songs form a sort of rude epic, full of .episodes and

digres sions,butpreserving a thread of narrativ e connect io n frombeginning to end . I have div ided them into fi v e par ts,acco rdingas the s ens e o f the piece indicated the proprie ty o t such divis ion .

They are inde ed recited o r sung in par ts , o r in w hole ; buts u ch p ar ts w ould no t neces sarily co r res pond w ith the partsinto w hich I have ventu red to s ubdiv ide the pieces .

B ut, as already m entioned,thes e Songs w ere very lengthyin the o i iginal. t ile, on the o ne hand, many pas sages are

c u riou s , o thers v ividly illus tra tiv e o f G ond life and reality,and o ther s remarkable in their w ay; ye t, as might be expected, many pas sag e s w ere r edundant, o thers friv olou s, others

improper o r o bje c tionable . A ll pas sages clearly belongingto any o f the la t ter categor 1es have been cu t ou t . And the

o riginal who le has been thus pared down to abou t one half.

And it has been found prac ticable to do this, w ithou t at all

impairing the sense or breaking the s equence o f the s tory.

E v en m this abridged shape the Songs a re long,being s ome

997 line s 1n the G o nd i.

The Songs and the No tes w ill speak for thems elves I ti

be s een the refi om . tha t they a re to s ome extent wo 1 thy of

being s elec ted fo r the labo riou s tr ea tment w hich Mr . Hislopbes tow ed upo n them . I o r they are the bes t G ond pieces

extant ; and they c omp1 is e a s o rt o f compendium o f Gondi thoug lits and no t ions .

l bo u o h ab ounding in things bor rowed

from the Hind us , they m e v e t po s s es s ed o f much,

o riginality,and 1 11 many pas sage s they a re,s o to s peak,r edo lent of G dndism.

They have nev er be fo re been re duced'

to w riting, bu t haveb een fo r many g enerations s u ng

'o r s aid by the Pardhan-prie s ts,tO

circ les '

o f lis tening G onds , a t marriages , and « on o therfes tive occas ions . They are fo r the m o s t par t o ld, p erhaps

ev en ancient, tho u gh mu ch o bs cu red by“

ode rn interpo lations

and additions . And though thef 'fi rs t o rig inal

-mu s t b e o lder

than the Hindus,ye t the framew o rk o f -the ‘S tory, as it n ow

exis ts,mu s t ha v e been c ompo sed s ubs equently to the ar rivalo f the A1 yan Hindus among the abo rigine s o f C entral India.

B e t o nd this mo s t vague e s timate, it is impo ss ible to s ay how

o ld o r how new thes e pieces m ay be. Fo r the G ondi beingu nw rit ten, and the Pa rdhans be ing u nle ttered, nene o f these

men can explain the his tory o f the Songs . A G ond Will referthe enquire r to the Pardhan .

"I‘beno

o ne Pardhan will saythat he learnt the piece by hear t from the i nou th o f ano ther,perhaps aged,Pardhan, who will say that he learnt it fromano the r Pardhan betm e him,and so on. This ts all that can

be ascertained at N agpore at all events .

10. T here ( the god ) Mahadewa w as ruling from the upper sea

to the lower sea.

1 1 . What w as that Mahadewa doing He w as swimming likea ro ller stone : he had no hand s no feet :

I 2 . He remained like the trunk ( of a tree) .

13 G ow ara Parwatee (his w ife having s tood, began to askN arayan

14. Who ar t thou He said, I‘

am B hagawan’

s ( god’

s) Subadar( depu ty ) .

1 5 . She said, Why hast thou come so far I came to see

N abadew a

G ow ara Parw atee came . N arayan having gone to thebanks of the N arbadda,stood. there .

T he Raja Mahadew a w as sw imming and came up .

Then Parwatee, w ith joined hands, stood, and so didN arayan.

Then said Mahadew a, For what has thou come? where are

the gods o f the tw elve threshingfl o ors o f the G onds ?

What did he say, K urtao Subal ? what did he say to ,

Mahadew a?

Perfo rm devotion ( tap \ fo r tw elv e months, and then you

w ill come to know the names of them.

Fiv e and six months passed ;at the end of it, the devo tionw as finished.

Then came Bhagawan and stood close to Mahadew a, and

called to him

Thydevo tion is finished,emerge ou t of the water. He said,how shall I

Eme rge‘

B I have no hands,no feet,no t eyes .

LO . And the sub sequ ent lines c ompris e disto rt ed v ersions in G’

ondi phrase of po rtions of

the Hind u mythology.

£4 The Mahomedan word Subad '

ar is know n t o the Mahra/tt asx as w ell' as t o the G onds .

The G onds mayhav e borrow ed . it straight from the Mahomedans .

Twelv e is probab ly a number of mys tic significance,though sixteen is the number

u sed in th e . subs equ ent : p assages . Perhaps here allu sion is made to the tw elv e tribes of the

G rind s .

2 11. The tap ,"or dev otion,is a regular Hind u ceremony.

Then Mahadewareceived man’

s form.

T hus man’

s form complete was made in the luminous w'

orl’

He raised his eyes and saw B hagaw i’

m ( godl i bu t he

( B hagawan'

,immediately disappeared.

Mahadewa said, I t is no t Well that G od shou ld no t be seen

( ac tually v isible) . Hear,O G od,mystory.

Mydevotion is fruitless ; I received a man’

s form,which

is not w ell.

Then he began to establish a ( tap) devo tion.

At the end o f nine months and nine days his boil moved

and burst

Kalia Adao was born. Then Mahadewa what did he say?

Said Mahadewa to him,Establish a tap ( defio tidn) .

He ( the K alia Adao ) began a devotion ; one month, tw o

months passed,wh en“

a boil arose in his hand.

e boil burst and Sixteen daughters were born out o f it.

Then said he,

What"whyare these daughters bo rnI sbell have cause to cas t my head down. Whence shall

I bring husbands fo r them

He took hold o f them and threw them in the water. Afterthe throw ing

The water was dried up,and sixteen Sorts of earth w ere

produced.

(He said ) I shall perform"

devotion,and then I sha ll be

at peace.

He then established a'

devo tion,and abdil'

arose in his hand :

Twelve threshingfloors of G ondigods Were born.

Hither and thither all the"

G onds were scattered in the Jungle;

33. K alia lAdao is believ ed to be the same personage as Iiiirtao Su tiz'

These sixt een daughters may perhaps be in allu sion to the sixt een ‘

G ond goddesss

gientw ned mPert u l I line 253; and this v iew is borne‘ out by t lie P

ardhan who'

recites'

41 . Whether the sixt een kinds o f earth hav e any special purport, is doubt fu l . -The

Pardhan who recites t he song,says that the phrase merely r efers t o‘

the‘ sev '

eral sorts of soil

known t o the—“people ; such as black loam,reddish learth,

"grtsirel,

tand the like

45 . Places,hills,and v alleys were filled with these G onds .

4 6 . Even trees had their G onds. How did the G onds conductthemselves

Whatever came across them they must needs kill and eat it ;

Theymade no dis tinction. I f they saw a Jackal they killed

And eat it ; no distinc tion w as observed : they respec tednot antelope,sainbur,and the like .

They made no distinction in eating a sow,a quail, a pigeon,

A crow, a kite,an adju tant, a vulture,

A lizard,a frog,a beetle, a cow,a calf,a he and she-bafl'

Rats,bandicoots,squ irrels— all these they killed and ate.

So began the G onds to do . They devoured raw and ripethings ;

They did no t bathe for six months together ;

They did no t w ash their faces properly, even on dung hills

they w ould fall down and remain.

Such w ere the G onds born in the beginning. A smell was

spread over the j ungle

When the G onds w ere thu s disorderly behaved ; they hecame disagreeable to Mahadewa,

Who said,T he caste of the G onds is very bad ;

I w ill no t preser v e them ; they w ill ruin myhill Dhawalagm ;

I perceive here and there smells. So said Mahadewa . Callthe G onds

Said he to N arayan : H e went,and called them,

And brought them into the presence of Mahadew a.

When they w ere s tanding, Mahadewa arose and looked,and saw all the G onds come.

H e spoke withinhimself,and took them away into his valley.

He made them to sit in a line, and he sat at the head of

This somewhat“sarcas tic description, which follows,of the habits of the Gond ,is

probablyof Hindu suggestion.

90. Mahadewa arose and placed a stone sixteen cubits longat the entrance of the cave,and thus shu t in the G onds .

91 . He s tationed Bhasmasfir ( a giant ) to guard it . StillParwatee remained asking ( after them) .

92 . Then said Mahadewa,Dhawalagiribegan to be odorous,andI fell into a rage thereat ;

93. B u t four Gonds have survived,and they are fl ed . So said he .

Then Parwatee thought in her mind,My G onds are los t.

95 . The four G onds who fl ed travelled onward over hills .

96 . Thence they w ent and saw a tree rising upright, as a Date

tree,which they climbed,and looked abou t them) .

97. They said there 18 no hiding place visible for us.

98. But one of them looked and saw a place. named.K achikopaLahugad

99. They went by the jungly road and reached. that place .

100. There the four b rothe rs remained.

1013. When the G onds w ere‘

no t to be found,Parwatee began

to feel regret for them.

102 . She then commenced a devo tion ( tap)

Six months passed

104. Parwatee ended her tap. Bhagawan ( god ) meanwhilewas swinging ( in a swing) .

He said, What devotee at' my res ting

time has ; begun- a

devo tion ; N arayan,go and see to it.

106 . N arayan w ent to see ;ascending a hill,he came to Parwatee,

107 . And s tood while Parwatee w as performing her tap, and

saying,My threshingfloor G ond‘

s do no t: appear ;

91 . This B hasmasur seems t o be one of the giant s o f Hindu mythology.

99. The nam e Kachikopa Lahu gad appears frequ en tly in »the S tory,but there is no knownplace par ticu larly—of that name . The meaning in G ond i is the“ Iron Valleys —the Red Hills a

nomenclatu re v ery applicable t o the mineral products and external aspect . of. many hills inthe G ond country.

104. The name; G od Bhagawan occu rs . frequ ent ly in: all'

the tPartb. l t t is borroWed , of

cou rse,from Hinduism . I t is remarkable,howev er,that this name sh ou ld he need e s pecially,ne ther G ondsshav e amidea of their own for" the one great G od ; Supreme ov er all ‘ the : gods,

yho is named B ara Dem. B ut-

the name Bara Dec ismot used m y.wherein“

thesmSongzzl

Therefore I commenced my devotion. When N arayanheard this, he ran ; resting and running, he came to

B hagawan and said

Parwatee is performing a devotion and says my threshingfloor G onds do no t appear where have they gone

B hagawan said,G o and tell her I will make her G ondsvisible .

P A.R 1‘

The B irth, s e,and Death of Lingo .

L. Then care. fell to Bhagawan ( god ) . There was, a tree

2 . I t w as blossoming. Then,said he,O ne o f its flow ers shallconceive.

3. B y G od’

s doing,clouds and w inds w ere loosed . A cloudlike

A fan arose : thunder roared,and lightning flashed ;

The flower burst,clouds opened,and darkness fell ; the dayw as hid .

A heap of turmeric fell at the fourth watch o f the night .

In the morning,when clouds resounded w ith thunder, the

flow er opened

8 . And burst,and Lingo was born,and he sprang and fell intothe heap of turmeric.

9. Then the clouds cleared, and at the dawn Lingo beganto cry.

Thereat,care fell u pon G od : the ( face o f Lingo ) began to

dryamidst the powder.

B ut by G od’

s doing, there w as a Ficus tree,on which

w as honey

The honey bu rst,and a small drop fell into his mou th .

Thu s the juice continued to fall, and his mou th began to

su ck .

14, I t was noon,and wind blew,when Lingo began t o grow .

1 5 . B e leapt into a swing,and began to sw ing,w hen daywas se t

1 6 .Lingo aro se with haste,and sat in a cradle sw inging.

1 7.Lingo Was a perfect man : w ater maybe s tained,bu t

he had

no stain whatever .

8 . Lingo, or Lingal,is a sor t of prophet among the G onds . Though h e appears throughou tthis Story in the charact er o f a dev out Hindu,yet the name is of blond o rigin . Sometimes

B han (G ondi for dev otee) is affixed to his name,and sometimes Pariur (G ondi for Saint .)

Lingo said, I am Saint Lingo ; I have a kno t of hair on myhead .

The four bro thers said, Come to our house .

T hey took him home. While some game was lying there,

Lingo said, What is this Phey said ) it is game that w ehave bro ught .

What kind of game is this Lingo asked . They said,I t isa pig.

He said, G iv e tr e its liver. There w as no liver there.

Then they said,

Hear,O bro ther,we have killed an animal Withou t liver l

43. Then Lingo said,L et me see an animal w ithou t liver.

Then care fell upon them. Where shall w e show him an

animal w ithou t a liver?said they .

O ne said,Hear myw ord"He is a litt le (fellow ),w e are bigmen ;w e w ill take him to the jungle among large s tones .

Among thorns in thickets and caves we w ill roam ; hew ill get tired,and w ill sit down ;

He will be thirsty and hungry, then he will propose toreturn.

With Lingo, they, w ith how and arrow in their hands,w ent by the jungle road .

Onw ard they went, and saw an antelope. Lingo said,K ill it"I t had a liv er. Then came a sambur,kill ye it"I t had a liver. A hare came,and he said,kill ye it

I t had a liver.

Thus the devout Lingo did not tire. These four brothersw ere tired.

For water they thirsted. On a steep they ascended to

look for water ;

36. Again a Hindu mark in contradis tinction to Gonds .

B ut no water appeared,so they descended from the hill.s

Thu s th ey came to a th ick j ungle o f Anj un t rees,wheretho rny plants blockaded the road .

They came and stoo d . A 'little water appeared . Theyplucked l ’alas ( B utia) leaves, and made them into a

t rough ;

They drank w ater w ith it, and w ere mu ch refreshed .

Lingo said,t at are yo u doing Sitting there ( Theysaid ) w e c anno t find an annu al w itho u t a liv‘e r.

It We do n’

t find it w e w ill leav e oii mentioninor the name

( o f such a crea tu re ) . T his is a g o o d place ;

After scraping the gibund,and cu tting down trees,w e w ill

sow rice .

( Lingo said) I s ilt sleep a little ;”

you make afield ready .

The fou r b ro thers bro ugh t hat'

che ts,and they all four began

to canthe A rgus“

trees .

( Lingo ) fell asleep,and he dreamed a dream. In his dream

H e saw the twelve threshinglloo rs o f G onds, and he w as

afraid .

I l e aw oke,and retu rned while the fou r bro thers

C u t dow n the tree : their hand s w ere blis tered, and each

blis ter w as as large as an A w a la fr u it .

They threw down their hatchets and came to Lingo ,

( And said ) o u r ham 3are blis tered, therefo re w e throw

down o u r ha tche ts .

70. They w ent aside, and'

s at down. Then arose (Lingo a ndhe ld a hatche t m his hand,

71 . And w ent n cu tting trees ; the t rees fell, their roo tsw ere dug u p.

I hu s he began”

to cut down j ungle. In an hou r hemade agood field .

5 6 The Anj un t ree ( Har clwickia bina ta.) was probably more abun dant at former

p cmods . I t st ill is found,bu t it is no longer plent ifu l in the G u ild count ry.

uQ5 . See the prev ious not e explaining the term threshingfl oor . Allusion seems here to

‘be made t o the twelv e t ribe's .

P "Q N

G i ‘

t0‘ v o 0

70 t o 1 0. Lompris es regu lar descriptlon of the cgltiv at ion so well known 111 recedt

t imes as Dhya .

73. (They said) ou r hands are blistered and not one tree havew e cu t down,

B u t Lingo in one ,hour has cu t down several trees ;

H e has made the black soil ( appear) , and has sown riceand hedged it round ;

He has made a do or to it, and has made a shu tter ( forthe door) .

Then they arose and took their homeward road,and came

to the ir own hou ses .

O n the fi rs t day o f the rainy season a little black cloud

appeared

Wind blew violently ; it was cloudy all'

day; rain beganto fall;

Rills in the Open places w ere filled knee deep ; all the holesw ere filled w ith w anzr) .

When the rain had poured for three days,the weather became fair : rice began to spring ;

All the fie lds appeared green. In one day the rice grewa finger

s bread th high ;

In a month it rose U p to a man'

s knee.

There w ere six teen scores o f N ilgais ( deer) , among whomt wo bucks ( uncle and nephew ) w ere chie fs .

When the scent o f rice Spread around,they came to knowit ; thither they went to graze .

A t the head o f the herd was the uncle,and the nephew

was at the rear .

With cracking j oints the nephew arose ;he leaped upwards.

ith two ears upright,andwith cheerful heart,he boundedtowards his uncle,

( And said) some one has a beau tiful field‘

of rice : it mustbe green tender fodder .

_To _u s little ones giv e thatfi eld,the sixteen scores of deer

w ill go there ;

84. Th e term sixteenscores"is"

frequ ent ly u sed for instance, sixt een scores of G ondsare Sp okfln o f. N o part icular significance is as certainable pet rps the t erm may only be an

idiom for a large number.

re v "

1 12. B eing old,he w as unab le to isap the door of the field of'

rice .

1 13. They i cu t from that cee and leape 1 back over the hedge,w hen the uncle said to them

1 14. Hear,O s ix teen sc‘

ores o f deer,you hav e eaten this field 1

Fa ther L ingo when he comes to it

1 1 5 . What measu res W i ll he adopt? Then the nephew,whow as behind,came in front,

1 1 6. And said,Hear, 0 friends and brethren"fieé from this

place,bu t hear my w ord .

1 17. As you flee keep you r feet on leaves,and stones,and boughs,and grass,bu t don

t pu t your feet on the’ “

sod . 80 said

the nephew .

118 . As hetold them,so“

they did -all thesis teénscar-és‘

o f deerbegan to run,

1 19. And left nomarksnor traces .

120. Then thev stopped : some remained standing, someslept .

1 2 1 . In the mids t o f the fio‘

w er fragrance w as Lingo sleeping,w hile hall

o f the nig ht w as passed .

his d ream he saw a field catch bydeer,arid all the rice

becoming spoil

1 23. Then I o depar ted, and took his road to Kachikopa

Hence he depar ted,and w ent to the brothers and Said,0bro thers"ou t of your house come ye ;

1 253. Hear one w o rd : the deer have eaten our field o f r ice.

1 26. T he four bro thers said w e need rice to ofier ou r firs tf'

( to th ei i

127. Then L ing o said,Hear, O brethren"ou r r ice has beeneaten up

spoilt ;we havenofirs tfrnits . L 1ngo sa1d,We

the liver Of these deer as firstfruits,t i

) 1 i , l

1 29. Then I w ill remain as a devo tee, p therwise my powerwill vanish .

130. I fi ll my s tomach by the smelling of flower s

131 . B u t how w ill the G onds fill their bellies, there is nothingfo r their eatin

132 . T he rice has been spo ilt by the deer. 80 said Lingo .

133. T he fo u r bro thers said w e will take in our arms,bow and

arrow .

134. With anger against the deer they came to the field, and

entered in the midst of it.

135 . When they came in the centre they saw only black soil .

136. O nly rice stubble appeared,and Lingo saw.nothing.

137. Then his anger aro se from the heel to the head,and he bit

his finger on the spo t ;

138. His eye s became red. Where are the deer ? said he ,lookfor them?

139. They looked,bu t did n o t see anywhere the footprints of

140. N ear a tree they beheld s ome foot marks ; they looked at it .

1 41 . As they w ent they beheld a jungle trodden down ; thensome traces appeared.

1 42 . Onw ard they w ent,bu t did no t see the deer,they behelda peepu l tree .

1 43. Lingo said,I will climb the tree,you stand below .

144. From the top he looked,and the deer were visible. He said,

The deer a re in sight,some are s eated,s ome are s leeping,some are leaping abou t.

146. You four bro thers separate yourselves on four sides withyour arrow s,

147. And allow no t one of the deer to escape.

148 . I w ill shoo t them from the tree and you zshoo t'

from below .

149. Having heard this,the four bro thers went and ambuscadedon four sides .

1 50. They shot their arrows from four corners,while Lingo sho tfrom the tree .

1 5 1 . The uncle ( the buck ) and one deer alone survived ;they hadaimed at them also,bu t the arrow fell from Lingo

s hand .

1 52 . He said to himself,when the arrow fell ou t of myhand,That mu st have been a good omen.

1 53. That uncle 1s a devou t follower of the servant of god,andhas no t eaten anything.

1 54. B u t the tw o survivors began to run then these f ou r

bro thers went after them in pursuit,saying,We will catch

them here or there.

1 55 . B u t the tw o could no t be found ;then the bro thers turned

and looked around .

1 56 . The eldest bro ther said,Hear,O brethren These tw o haveescaped,and L ingo

1 57. Has remained behind at a distance from us . Let us return,said the eldest bro ther .

1 58 . When they returned,Lingo asked them,Where have youbeen

1 59. They said,The tw o su rvivors have fl ed and canno t Le

found,so w e hav e retu rned to you .

1 60. He said,I will show you something ; see if anywhere inyour

16 1 . Waistbands there is a flint ; if so,take it ou t and make fire .

1 62 . Then they took ou t pieces of flint and began to make fire,

1 63. B ut the matches did not ignite. As they were domg this,aw atch of the night passed .

1 64. They threw down the matches,ar. d said to Lingo , Thouart a

Saint ;

1 85 . He descried the fire,and w ent to it ; then beheld he an o ldman looking like the trunk of a tree .

1 86. He saw from afar the old man’

s field, around which a

hedge w as made.

1 87. T he old man kept only one w ay to it,and fastened a sc re e n

to the entrance,and had a fire in the centre o f the field.

1 88 . He p laced logs o f the Mohw a and Anjun and Saj treeson the fire .

1 89. Teak faggots he gathered,and enkindled flame.

190. The fire blazed u p,and,w armed by the heat of it,in deepsleep lay the E ike d

‘G awadi.

191 . Thus the old man like a giant did appear. When the

young G ond beheld h im,he shivered;

192 . His heart leaped ; and he was much afraid in his mind,andsaid

193. I f the o ld man were to, rise he w ill see me , and I shall be

eaten up ;

194. I will steal away the fire and carry it o ff, then my life w illbe safe .

195 . He w ent near the fire secretly,and took ab rand of Tembhurw ood tree.

196 . When he was lifting it up a spark flew and fell on the hipo f the o ld man .

197. That spark w as as large as a po t : the giant w as blistered

he awoke alarmed,

198. And said ,I am hungry, and I cannot get food to eat anyw here ; I feel a desire for flesh

199. Like a tender cucumber hast thou come to me. So said the

old man to the G ond,

187. The Mohwa is the tree from the flower of w hich the G onds obtain their fav ou riteliqu o r .

18 8 . The Teak t ree is still found,though somewhat dwarfed,in most parts of the G ond

country.

200. Who began to fly. T he old man followed him. TheG ond then threw away the brand whi h he had stolen.

201 . He ran onward and was not caught . Then the old man,being tired,turned back .

202 . Thence he returned to his field,and came near the fire andsat,and said,What nonsense is this

203. A tender prey had come m thia my reach ;

204. I said I w ill cut it up as soon as I can, but it escaped frommyhand I

205. Let it go : it will come again, then I will catch it. I t is

gone now .

206. Then what happened ? the G ond returned and came tohis brethren,

207. And said to them,Hear,O brethren l I went forfire,as yousent me,to that field ; I beheld an old man like a giant.

208. “Tith hands stretched ou t and feet lifted up,I ran. I thus

survived with difliculty.

209. The brethren said to Lingo,We‘

will not go . Lingo said,Sit ye here .

2 10. O brethren,what sort of a person is this giant. I will goand see him.

2 1 1 . So saying,Lingo went away and reached a river.

2 12 . He thence arose and went onward. As he looked,he sawin front three gourds.

2 13. Then he saw a bamboo stick,which he took up.

2 14. When the river was flooded

2 15. I t washed aw ay a gourd tree, and its seed fell, and eachstem produced bottle gourds.

2 1 6. He inserted a bamboo stick in the hollow of the gourd andmade a guitar.

2 1 7. He plucked two hairs from his head and strung it .

2 1 8. He held a bow and fixed eleven keys to that one stick,andplayed on it.

2 19. Lingo was much pleased in his mind.

220. Holding it in his hand,he wal {ed ii: the direction of theold man

s field .

22 1 . He approached the fire where I tikad G aWadiw as sle eping.

222. The giant seemed i ike aleg lying close to the fire : his teeth

w ere hideously v isible ;

223. His mou th w as gaping. Lingo looked at the old man

while sleeping.

224. His eyes w ere shu t. Lingo said This is not go r d time tocarry the old man off while he is asleep .

225. In front he looked, and turned round and saw a tree

226. O f the peepul sort standing erect ; he beheld its brancheswith wonder,and looked for a fit place to mount upon .

227. I t appeared a very good tree ;so he climbed it,and ascendedto the top of it to sit.

228 . As he sat,the cock crew . Lingo said,I t is daybreak ;

229. Meanwhile the old man must be rising. Therefore Lingotook the guitar in his hand,

230. And held it ; he gave a stroke, and it sounded well : fromit he drew one hundred tunes .

231 . I t sounded w ell, as if he was s1ng1ng with his voice.

T hus ( as it were) a song was heard .

m ‘.

232 . Trees and bills were silent at its sound . 21 as mu sic loudlyentered into

233. The old man ears ; he rose in haste,and sat up quickly ;lifted up his eyes,

817. This two stringed guitar (jantar) is a fav ourite ins tmment with the Gonds.

249. I ( wear) my dhotee ( clo th round the loins) down to myheels,and ( keep) a kno t ( of hair ) on my head,and on

the navel a diamond,and on myforehead a sacred mark .

250. Water may possess a stain,bu t I have none. I am Lingo .

I will make the old man and old w oman

2 5 1. T o dance the G ond dance. I w ill sing a song,and cau se

them to dance,if I be Lingo .

Lingo w orshipped his god,and invoked B udhal Penta,Ad 111Penta,

253. The sixteen satike ( goddesses) and eighteen flags,Manko

B aytal,Jano e B aytal,and Pharsa Penda,

And said,Salu tation ( to you G ods)"He,holding his guitar

in his hands,sung variou s tunes.

I s my guitar an allurement to them So said Lingo . He

stopped the guitar.

From on high he salu ted the uncle,B ikad G awadi,the oldman ;

2 57. Who looked towards the top of the tree,and said,Saluta

tion to you,O nephew"2 58 . Well hast

thou deceiv ed and cau sed u s to danceWhither hast thou come,nephew

259. ( Let u s embrace each other. Lingo descended from the

2 60.And'

omg to the old'

man,held his hand,and said,Uncle;Salu tation to you"They met together : nephew became known to the uncle,$and the uncle to the nephew.

262 r After the -meeting was over, the nephew held the uncle'

2263: They both came near the fire,and eat. 0nephew,Whence“

hast then come? asked the uncle.

249. These ar e Hindu marks in contradistinction t o G onds.263. These names belong to Gond gods and

goddesses;

I‘ha'

v e killed six teen scores o f deer ;we want to roast theirliver to eat .

235 . We w ere trying to make fire fall from the flint, but fi'

fell not.

266. You possess fire in you r field, therefore I discharged an

arrow .

2 67. I t came near you r fire . I t arose and fell at the door of you rdaughters .

T he daughters have lifted it up and carried it away .

Have yo u no sense,uncle?

2 69. I sent mybro ther to fetch fire, and you ran to eat him.

2 70. I f you had caught him, you w ould have eaten him u p ;and where shou ld I have seen him again?

2 71 . The uncle said,I made a mistake ;O nephew ,the thing thatI did is past .

2 72 . He replied, O uncle,I have killed sixteen scores of deer"G o and eat their flesh as much as you like.

2 73. Thus said Lingo . Then the old man said,Hear,O nephew,myw ord . T here are seven sisters,my daughters ;

I have them here. Take them away . Having first bound

their eyes,

Lingo thence arose,and stood before the uncle and said, Iam going uncle,

Receive my salu tation . Lingo thence w ent by the way to

the house where the old man’

s daughters w ere.

2 77. Hav ing arrived, he stood at the door. Lingo appeared a

you th of tw elve years

278. Or as sixteen years old ; in front he looked foppish,likea young man ;

2 79. From behind he looked like a devout B rahmin. H e

appeared as a good man.

273: This is not supposed to conv ey any allusion to the sev en sister goddesses of the .

Gonds and the lower classes of Hindus.

2 80. The seven sisters from within the house came to Lingo,and regarded him

2 8 1 . As a young man. They came out and stood before~Lingo .

2 82 . Tell us,said the seven sisters,who art thou? tell u s.

2 83. He said,Thyfather is myuncle, and thymother is myaunt.

2 84. I am devou t Lingo,the servant of G od . I am Lingo .

2 85 . Hear,0 sisters my arrow came to your house and fell ; Ihave been in search of it for a long time.

2 86. My four brothers are sitting in the jungle ,and I have killedsixteen scores of deer ;

2 87. They are also 1n the jungle,and my bro thers are sittingnear them.

2 88. I have come here for fire : it is very late.

2 89. My brothers must be expecting fire ; they must hav e felthunger,

290. And. thirsty they must hav e become; where will they getbread ?

291 . Thus said Lingo . T e n the seven sisters,what did theybegin to say.

292 . Hear,O bro ther,our w o rd . Thou art a son to uncle,and weare daughters to aunt .

293. There is a good relationship between you and us ; how

can you leave u s ?

294. We w ill come along with you ; therefore,don’

t say N o .

295 . I f you like to come,be ready soon,and' take the onward

road,said Lingo.

296 . They took the bedding for their beds,and their clothes,and gave the arrow to Lingo .

They replied,and said, H ear, O Lingo"Thou who art

called good,mayw e call you bad

315 . We w ill not go, w e w ill s tay . Whither thou shalt go,thither We w ill follow thee .

316 . The brethren s aid, Hear, O Lingo, these seven s isterss ayWell 1

317. Say thou yes to them,0 brother, w e will marry them.

31 8 . We will make them ou r w iv es . Hear, O Lingo, sueh is

o u r w ord .

319. He said ,Take these as wives in marriage, and I shall be

g reatly p leased .

320. Take them here in mar riage, I w ill g1 v e you leave tomake them your w ives .

32 1 . They said,If you see any one of them to be good-looking,

yo u take her.

I f any he inferior,we will take her .

323. He s aid,Hear my w ord,0bro thers I do not need this .

324 . I promised to give them to you ;they are of no use to me .

325 . So,said Lingo,ifyou marry'

them they will serve me.

326 . They w ill be my sisters-in-law . You are older,and I amyo unger .

327. They can give me water and bread, and spread a bed

for me

328. I w ill sleep on it. They can give me a bath ;myclothesthey w ill wash.

329. They w ill be my sisters -ia-law, and like my mothersthey shall be .

330. So said Lingo . When Lingo said they will be mymothers, the suspicion of the four vanished.

331 . They w ent to Lingo,and asked him : 0 Lingo,marry us

quickly 1

332 . Ifyou marry us,then they are seven sisters,and we arefour brothers .

333. Distribute to each of us a wife,0 Lingo .

334. He said the three elder should marry two each,and theyounges t,one only.

335 . Then said Lingo,Hear,myword,0brethren In this jungle

336 . And in this plain how can we make preparation ;we hav eour town,namely K achikopa Lahugad

337. We will go there and make preparations for the marriage.

338 . So said Lingo . When they heard this,they departed.

339. They walked in front, and the (w omen) walked behind.

340. They came to their v illage Kachikopa Lahugad, and

began to make

341 . Preparations . There were no men or women ; then Lingobrought water .

342 . He bathed them, boiled turmeric and gave them, and

pounded safi'

343. He erected a bower,and tied garlands of leaves round it.

344 . He called the fou r brothers to sprinkle turmeric roundabou t .

345 . He applied turmeric to the four brothers and the sevensisters .

346 . He said w e canno t marry all at once. Hear,0brothers.

347. Let u s marry one set only at firs t,and the res t shall w orkw ith u s ( for that occasion).

348 . Then shall the marriage of the second set take place

349. Those who have been already married shall now help us( in this marriage ceremony),and so on.

350. Thus said Lingo and the’

four consented to it .

351 . Thus ended the marriage. When some days passed,theeldest brother said,Hear myw ord,0 brethren .

35 2 . Lingo has done good to u s, and brought w ives to ou r

houses.

353. B u t Lingo is withou t a w ife : he thought of our good,but not of his own,

354 . So we will reckon him as our father .

355 . We will kill game,and bring flowers for Lingo . Let himsit in a swing .

356 . So said the four brothers .

357. Lingo sat in a swing,and the seven sisters swung thesw ing .

358 . The four brothers took their bows and arrows,and repairedto the jungle .

359. After that,what happened ? The seven sisters said withinthemselves,Hear,0 sisters . This Lingo

360. Is our husbands’ younger bro ther,and w e are his sisters

in-law ;w e are at liberty to laugh w ith him;

36 1 . We can pull him by the hand, and we can make him tospeak w ith u s .

362 . Lingo does no t laugh with us ; be neither speaks norlooks towards us ; he has closed his eyes

363. But he shall laugh,and we w ill play w ith him. So saying,

364. Some held his hand, and some his feet, and pulled him,bu t Lingo moved not his eyes

365 . He did not speak or laugh with them.

366 . Then Lingo said to them,Hear,0sisters . You have heldmyhands

854. This marriage bower is characteristic of the Gonds : but is not unknown to the

Hindus .

383. Some a quail ; some brought fl ow ers .~

384 . They came into their house and set their burdens down,and said,L et u s go to ou r Lingo ;

385 . IV e w ill give him flowers ; he maybe expec ting u s . Theyentered the house .

386 . They came near Lingo and s tood, and saw him sleeping .

387. They said,There is no one here . Lingo is sleeping ; ourw 1v es do no t appear.

388 . Then w e will come and awake Lingo . Thence theyreturned

389. To their houses ,and going to their rooms, they began tolook .

They ( the w omen l w ere feigning s leep, and panting, asif fear had come upon them . Then the husbands asked

Why are you s leeping? and why don’

t you sw ing Lingo ?T hey replied,Hear our words

How Lingo, your bro ther, dealt w ith us . How long shall

w e hide this dn race

393. He allow s you to go to the j ungle,and behind your backhe shamefully maltreats us .

394 . Such is the conduct of this Lingo . We have kept quiettill tod ay ;

395 . N ow w e w ill not stop qu iet We w ill go back to ou r

father’

s place .

396 . We w ill no t s tay here . Can one w oman have two

hu sbands ?'

397. The brethren said,We told Lingo at the firs t

398 . That there w ere seven sis ters, and that he might chooseon e from amongs t them,

399. And that we w ould marry the rest. B ut he said,

I hey are my sisters , they are mymothers .

401 . Thus s aid that sinner, w icked and ill-conducted, thatLingo .

While w e w ere cut hunting,he deceived us . We w ill take

Him to the jungle, and, having killed him, w e w ill pullo u t his eyes .

Up to this day w e have killed antelope and hares ;

B ut to-dayw e go to hunt Lingo , and after killing him w e

will take ou t his eyes ,

406 . And w e w ill play w ith them as w ith marbles ; and then

w e w ill eat fo od and drink w ater .

407. Then they came to Lingo . and s tood befo re him and said,

Rise,O Lingo , ou r younges t bro ther"408 . Lingo said,Why, brethren.

— why'

hav e you no t brought

the game and the fl owe rs to me ? and w hy have youcome s o s o on ?

409. They s aid . There is a large animal ; w e hunted it hard.bu t it did no t fall

4 10. I t does no t fl ee, it s tands s till only ; we are tired of dis

charging ou r arrow s at it.

4 1 1 . Lingo aro s e from the sw ing and s at,and looked towardshis bro thers .

4 12 . I w ill kill that animal. So said Lingo .

4 13. Ling o thence aro s e and came ou t o f the house, and s aid,Come,0bro thers . Where is the animal ?

4 14. In front Lingo, and in rear the four brothers walkedtowards the jungle .

4 1 5 . I t is a v e ry large animal, said they ;and saying thu s,theys earched fo r it among trees and gras s .

4 1 6 . Lingo said, If it has gone, let it go .

4 17. Lingo w ent under a Char tree and sat. Then they said,O

brother"41 8 . Sit hére, and w e will bring water. So saying,yonder they

4 19. B eing, amongs t the trees,they said amongthemselves,

G ood Lingo is s eated in the shade,

420. This is the right time to effect our desire . T he four to okfou r arrow s and sho t

One arrow hit the head, an d the head split open

42 2 . O ne hit the neck, and it bowed down ; one hit the liv e r,and it was cleft.

423. Thus Lingo breathed his las t"424. The fou r bro thers came up to Lingo and s tood,

42 5 . And s aid,Draw a knife, and w e will take ou t his eyes .

They d rew ou t a knife and

T o ok ou t his two eyes, and said,Cover him .

So they took some tw igs and covered Lingo,

Then they said,We have killed Lingo ,who w as w icked .

They plucked some green leaves of the trees and made a

c up o f them,

And placed in it the two eyes of Lingo,and one t ied it to

his w ais tband .

431 . They w alked tow ards their house, and at evening time

they arrived ho rne .~

432 . O ne said,Hear, O w ives"K indle fire quickly,And light a lamp . They drew the s talks of fl ax from

the eaves of the hou se roof and enkindled fi re.

434 . O ne said,I t is a fine light,let us play at marbles .

435 . They took ou t bo th the eyes, and said. 0 s even sis ters

you also j o in in play .

436 . They brought the eyes. and placed one on the eas t s ide,and the o ther on the w es t ;

437. And the brethren, s itting c lo se, held the marbles betw een

the j oints of their fingers .

438 . Then began to play at marbles w ith the tw o eyes ; and

the ir game las ted an hou r .

1 6. When it came to the jungle of K achikopa Lahugad, itsearched in the valleys there.

1 7. I ts sight fell on the twigs, it came to them and sat, andsearched the twigs .

18. I t saw Lingo lying there looking as if smashed, and

19. This the crow observ ed, and fl ew away and came to theupper w orld.

20. Perching on god’

s hand, it sat . G od asked it,Where haveyou seen him?

2 1 . I t said [ came to the jungle of K achikopa Lahugad, I saw

a man there in a cave.

When god heard this he became silent, and understoodthe tru th of it ;

And then said,I t w as in that very jungle that Lingo was

born from a flower o f the tree .

And has nev er been there since. He took nectar

From ou t of his fingers and called K urtao Subal, and said

to him

Take this and sprinkle on the liver, belly,and head of the

body .

Thu s, the crow in front,and Kurtao Subal behind,went toK achikopa L ahugad.

K urtao Subal said,Hear,O crow. Here is myLingal.

Ambrosia w as brough t, and drOppe l into his mou th . and

sprinkled over his head and body: then L ingal’

s head

began to unite,

And his flesh became warm.

Lingo rose

And sat up. Looking towards the crow,he said,I was fastasleep ;

Where are mybrothers

I see only a man and a crew,and I don’

t see mybrothers.

35 . Kut tao Subal replied,Where are your brothers ?

You w ere dead, your body was lying here; we came andrestored you to life ;

The bro thers you enquire abou t have killed you, and goneaw ay.

Then said K urtao Subal,what do you sayto going? Lingal,addressing the crow ,said

I w ill go to my sixteen scores of G onds .

I w ill go and see them. and speak to them.

The crow and K urtao Subal started in one direction,

And Lingo took ano ther road .

Lingo, while crossing the mountains and jungle,benighted.

Then Lingo said,I w ill s tay here alone ;

Tigers and bears maydevou r me.

He Went te a large N iroor tree .

When he climbed to the top,the night came on

“Wild. cocks crowed,peacocks cried,antelopes were afraid,

And bears wagged their heads, jackals yelled, and the

jungle resounded .

At midnight Lingo saw the moon,and said to himself

The dayis approaching,and while the s tars are still V isible,I w ill ask them about my G onds.

At the third watch of the night,the cock crowed

The morning star appeared,the skybecame red.

Lingo,descending from the tree, ran towards the sun and

saluted him

And said,1 want to know where mysixteen scores of G ondsare?

5 5. The sun said,I am engaged in the service of G od duringthe four watches of the day,

39. The number of sixteen scores of G onds,which frequentlyrecurs,is doubt less int endedfor some original t ribal sub-div ision of the people,although the numbermay not be reconcil

able with the tribes as new declared to exis t. See for further specificatiozi,Parts IV . andV .

And have not seen your G onds .

Lingo w ent to the moon,

Salu ted and asked her if she knew any thingAbout his sixteen scores of G onds . The moon replied

I travel all night, and during the day am engaged in theservice of G od ;

Therefore I know not.

Lingo then went to black K umayat,

Saluted him,and asked him,where are my sixteen scores o fG onds.

65 . He replied : Hear,L ingo : Mention abou t anyone but G onds .

66 . The G onds are foolish like the ass .

67. They cat cats,mice, and bandicoo ts ;

68 . They also eat pigs and buffaloes ; they are of such a badcas te.

69. Why do you ask me about them ?

70. At the s ource of the Jumna river, on the Dhawalagirimountain,

71 . Mahadewa has caught the G onds,

And has confined them in a cave, and shut its mou th witha s tone of sixteen cubits

long .

73. B asmasur the giant has been appionted to guard it andwatch the place .

74. After hearing this,Lingo set out, and walked night andday,

75, Making devo tion . After tw elv e months had expired, theterm of his devo tion was comple te,

76 . When the golden s eat o f‘

Mahadew a began to shake ( fromthe effects of L ingo

s devo tion) .

63. This name— b lack K umayat— is obs cure. I t is believ ed to refer t o some Hindu saint,

especially if t aken in connexion with the remark that follow s .

67. This sev ere remark upon the Gond people is doub tless of Hindu d eriv ation.

97. They w ill alight here and there ; smells w ill arise,bonesw ill be scattered,and make the earth look very bad.

98 . T he respec t for mount Dhawalagiri will be lost .

99. M ahadew a, hearing this, replied : Hear, N arayan,I havepassed my w o rd .

100. I have erred,bu t Will no t change myword .

101 . N arayan then addressed L ingo :

102 . H ear, L ing o . B ring me the young ones of the black birdB indo fo r an offering ;

103. After that you may take the G onds aw ay.

104. L ingo w ent and reached the ' sea,where there was nothingbu t w ater visible ;

105 . And on the shore he saw the young ones of the black

bird . T he parent bird

106 . H ad gone to the j ungle . This bird was such,that

107. For fo od it killed the elephant, and ate its eyes ; andbreaking its head, brought the brains for the youngones to eat.

108. There had been seven broods,at seven different times ;

B u t they had been devoured by a. sea-serpent, called theB howrnag_

. Lingo . w ent near.

A fter see ing the young ones,he said to himself: If I takethem in the

Absence o f their parents,I shall be called a thief; I w ill

therefore

Take them in the presence of the parents, and will be

true to myname.

He slept near the young ones w ith comfort.

A large snake, as thick as the trunk of the I tumna tree,appeared

105 . Th e episode abou t the bird B indo,and the sea-serpent,and the shore of‘

the ocean,

cannot be of G ond o rigination . The id eas and the imagery are qu ite beyend the G onds .

The fable mu st be d eriv ed from the Hindu s,though I am not s ure that the nam e B indo

occurs in their books . Howev er, there is a great bird in Hindu myt hology, d escribedas

“the king of the feathered t ribe and the remorseless enemy of the serpent race.

"B u t

With a hood as large as a basket for winnowing corn.

This serpent, ca lled the B howrnag, came out of the

w ater to eat the young ones .

The young ones were terrified on seeing the serpent,andbegan to cry.

Lingo ,taking an arrow ,and fixing it in his bow,

Sho t the serpent, and then cu t it into seven pieces,whichhe immediately

B ro ugh t and laid at the head o f his bed, and Coveredthem up.

Then the male and female of the black bird returned fromthe j ungle .

They brought the carcase o f some camels and some

elephants, together w ith some eyes and lips o f elephants,

As food fo r their you ng ones .

B u t the young ones refused to eat ;

When the female said . to the male ;

N o tw ithstanding myhaving had young seven times‘

I am like a barren she-bufl'

alo ; if these young”ones are

sp ared

I shall be like a mo ther o f children . What evil eye hasbeen cast on

Myyoung ones,that they do not eat l’

The male bird, aligh ting from the tree, saw a whiteobj ect ly ing below,w h e re w as Lingo .

He then exclaimed : Here is a man,and that is whyour

young ones do no t eat.

Let u s kill him and ex tract his brains ;

O u r young ones w ill then take their fo od .

Hearing this,the young ones said

You hav e brought food for us,bu t how shall we eat it?

You are ou r parents,

You leave u s alone,and go away to the jungle

Who is there to protect us?

137. The serpent came to eat us.

138. This man whom you see,has saved ou r lives .

139. G ive him firs t to eat,w e w ill then take our food ; unlesshe eats,w e w ill no t eat.

1 40 After hearing what the young ones said,

14 1 . The mo ther fl ew down from the tree, and coming nearLingo,

1 42 . And lifting up the clo th w ith w hich he had coveredh imselt

, saw the sev en pie ces of the B how rnag serpent.

143. Seeing this she began to exclaim

144. T his I s the serpent tha t has always eaten my young ones,

and rendered me child less

Had this man no t been here it w ould have devoured thesealso .

A ddressing Lingo, she said : Rise father,— rise bro ther ;who are you , and

Where have you come from ? You have saved the lives ofou r young ones, and you have become ou r grandfather .

1 48 . Whatever you say,w e w ill lis ten to it.

1 49. He said

1 50. O bird, I am a devotee, a worshipper of the Deity .

15 1 . Tell us, the bird said,w hat has brought you here .

152 Lingo replied, I want you r young ones .

1 53. O n hearing this the bird began to cry bitterly,

And,opening her eyes, she said

I would give you anything

Except my young ones .

Lingo said

I w ill take your young ones merelyMahadewa.

In reply to this, the black B indo said

180. Mahadewax

gav e wheat 2to of imill‘

dtto o thers,

1 8 1 . And rice to others .

182 . The G onds went ito -the riv er =and lbegan~preparing their

Some of the G onds said that they been confined a nd

punished severely .

1 84. On hearing this,tLingo s aid

You are now sat the iriv er,-cook and reatyandt hen commain.

P A R T I V .

The subdiv is ion by Lingo of the G er da into tribes, and the

ins titution of the worship of the G ond gods .

1 .Lingo kneaded the flou r and made it into a thick cake,

and cooked pulse,and satisfied all the G onds.

Then clouds arose,and it began to rain.

When the rivers flooded and the flood began to roll, all

the G onds spoke :

4 .O Lingo,much rain has come up and is falling.

Then all these G onds began to w alk in the middle of the

river .

6 . From among all these G onds, four persons w ith Linggremained .

7.Lingo,having seen this,began to say: Hear,O brethren

This river is flooded,how shall w e cross it

M ore clouds came up,and darkness fell,

When those four persons and Lingo began to speak

Hear , O brethren,w hat shall w e do,and how shall we go

on ? the day is depar ting.

N ow Dame the tortoise,and Pusi the alligator,w ere playingin the w ater.

They came to them ou t of the water,and begag tg speak

Hear,O brethren,whydo you Silently stand and cry

They said : O ur sixteen scores of G onds have all gong,and

w e only have r emained ;

O brethren,how shall w e go They said Sit on us,and

We w ill take you across .

6. The fou r pers ons who r emained with Lingo when the rest crossed the riyer seem to

be the same as th e fou r who remained b ehind when all the rest entered the cav e — See

Part I .,line 79.1 2 . The episode of the tortoise and the alligator is of G ond origin. The G onds are said

t o hold the t ort o ise sacred ev en now,and nev er t o catch it themselv es, apd ev en'

prodiir‘

éits release if caught by others .

I f you keep your oath w e w ill take you across the river.

They replied : Hear, 0 sisters . You are Pusi the alligator,and you are Dame the tort oise.

These fo u r persons who ar e before you w ill keep their

oath first of all.

I f any beat you w e w ill not allow it or if any ( try to )catch you w e w ill prevent it .

You shall be the eldest sister of us four persons,said they.

Dame the tortoise, and Pu si the alligator,came before the

face ( of the G onds ),and those persons sat on the alligator’

back,leav ing Lingo alone to sit on the back of the tor toise.

T he alligator w ent first,and then fo llow ed the tortoise in

the flood .

The w icked alligator,having taken them into the midst of

the w ater,began to drown them .

They began‘

to cry. T hen the tor toise spoke : Hear,O Lingo.

Stretch thyhand and drag them off, and make them sit o n

my back

Lingo,having stretched his hand,caught them and dragged

them away,and made them sit on the tortoise’

s back .

Then the tortoise took the four men on his back and went

across the river ;

29. And they fell at its feet,and said : Hear,O tortoise,we willno t become faithless to you .

30. T hen those four w ent by a jungly path, and ascendedone hill,

31 . And descended another . Thus they went forward .

32 . They began to cu t trees and build houses,and they remained( not together ),but here and there.

33. Fields and hou ses w ere formed by the G onds, and thattown became large.

33. lf’

rom this line to line 37 is a d escription of the scat tered settlement s made by theGonds m the forests. The name N er Bhumi is the Gondi term for a city;,it ,has no further

A bazaar ( periodical market ) Was held in Nar B humi ( thename of the tow n ) .

T hen Lingo began to say: Hear,O brethren. If you w ill

sow millet,it w ill spring u p.

Thus tw elve months passed, and N ar Bhumi began to

appear excellent .

Those who had no bullo cks received them .

T hose who had no carts received carts thus all the houses

o f the city became pro sperou s .

All the G onds came to Lingo,and sat clo se to each o therin row s,

While Lingo s to od in the midst o f them,and began to

Hear,O brethren. Allyou G o nds unders tand no thing.

Yo u do no t know whom to call bro ther,and w hom father,

O r o ther relativ e ; from whom to ask a daughter, and to

w hom to give you r daughter ;

With w hom to laugh . Then those G onds began to say

0 Lingo,you possess great and go od unders tanding ; do

as you

Hav e said w ith all you r might,and make tribes o f us .

Then Lingo, ou t o f the six teen sco res o f the G onds, separated four sco res, and told them to rise .

48 . He caught one o f them by the hand,and said : 0 friend,become Manawaja .

34 This bazaar is an exact allusion t o the periodical market s (on s ome fixed d ay of the

week),which are to this d ay held bythe hill people,e v en amongst the wilds of the mountains .

35 . The command of Lingo t o the G ends t o sow millet (j owaree) is in ad v er tence to their

progress in agricu ltu re . Their practice is fi rs t t o s ow rice,which is easily produced . Astheir reso urces increase, they begin t o raise a lit tle millet,which requ ires more care andresou rce.

37 and 38 . Though the w ord s are simple,— merely that the G onds r eceiv ed bu llocks,and then carts,

—yet they are pregnant with actual meaning, which is this . In the earliest

stages the G onds liv ed first on fru it and gam e, as d esc ribed in Part I . Then, as specifiedin Part 1 1, line 63, ci p assim, they cu t down t rees,and burn them for ashes,which fertilizesthe ground, and makes it yield, f rom seedjnown w ithou t ploughing or other agricu ltu raloperation . As they ad v ance theyb egin t o cu ltiv at e w ith b u llo cks and ploughs; and then,lastly,as th eir v illages improv e,they u se car ts t o car ry grain t o market,and especially toc onv ey the wild fru its and o ther produ ce of the j ungles . These sev eral stages of progressare V isible t o this day among the th e G ond s .

47. Though this and the sub sequ ent lines r efer to some tribal ’d istribu tion, yet thediv ision mu st n ot be r egarded as at all complet e ; and it only part iallycorresponds with thebest receiv ed specificat ion of the tw elv e G ond t ribes .

63. Two years old ; and call two of the

64. M anozas ( bards) . Then they named one god Ghagara Pen

( the B ell god) .

65 . Lingo said : B ringa chou ri ( fan) made from the tail of the

w ild cow .

66 . Then,said Lingo, open the shop ( of the ironsmith ),andmake the go d Parsapot of s teel.

67. G o to the jungle and cu t a bamboo stick,and bring it.

68 . K eep their god in Dhanegaon,and the seven sisters, goddesses ( satike ),in Anegaon .

69. In the morning,Lingo aro se and w ent to a river and bathed,and w o re a dho te ( clo th round the lo ins ),

70. And applied the tika ( sacredmark ) to his forehead . What Isays he . Hear,O brethren,to the O zas ( bards) .

Call tw o Dahaking drummers ; and they called them, and

brought the Stick god . Then

72 . Lingo bound the Chain god to the s tick, and placedano ther stick 1n the god Pharsapo t ; and the G ungawan

C haw or ( the cow tailed fan w as waved over it ;

and w ith joined hands then said : Hail l Phal sa ( Pen).

73. H e lifted the stick, and the gods Manko Rayetal, JangoRaye tal,

74. And Pharsa Pen came and stood ( there) ; and Lingo w as

possessed of them .

75 . Then Lingo became a man devo ted to god,and moved and

jumped mu ch

76. Lingo (w as ) in front, and behind were goats,cocks,a calf.And all the G onds

64. Manoza,or O za,are r egu lar names for the bards or m instrels, so common amongst

the G onds . The Ghagara Pen, or B ell god,is one of the G ond go ds,formed by stringingtoge

t her a set of small tink ling bells .

65 . This sacred fan (G ungawan Chou r, or Chow ri) is well known among the G onds ; but

the id ea is believ ed t o b e borrowe d from the Hindu s .

66 . The god Pharsapot,or Phares Pen, is represented by a spear,and is one of the regu larG ond gods . Pharsa also means a t rident in G ondi. Iron-ore is obtained in most parts of

the G ond country.

67. This is the Stick god,w ell known among the G onds,and i epresented by a bamboo.

The bamboo is plentifu l generally 1n the G ond count iy.

68. Dhanegaon and Anegaon are names of v illages withou t anypar ticu la r meaning. Thesev en sisters are goddesses,well known t o the common Hindu s as well as to the G ond s .

72 . The Chain god is represent ed simply by an iron chain, and 13 worshipped by theG onds under the name of sakla Pen .

73. Manko Rayetal and Jane o Rayetal are known to be members of the G ond pantheon.

The Pardhém who recites this Song declares them to be theyv iv es o f the god Pharsa Pen.

Assembled in one place: Hav ing left the t illage Dh‘

anegaon,

They came,and began to saythis is a thick jungle.

Then the G onds ( called on the gods ) «to stand s till.

They fell at the feet of the gods,and asked where theysho uld make seats for the gods o f each band .

Then all the G onds came in front and, w ith joined hands,stood,

8 2 . And began to ask Pharsa Pen ; who replied : Hear, Obrethren.

83. B etween tw elve glens and seven dales go, and make placefo r ( u s gods ) .

84. Then in front w ent the S tick god,and behind follow ed all

the G onds.

8 5 . They arrived, and after alighting they began to pick Up

grass and lift s tones.

Then said B ingo,

Hear,O b'

ren. Doyou see yonder a

B ij’

esal t'

ree ? Go and cut it,and make a kettle-drum from

its w ood . They,taking an axe,w ent and ou t it.

Some held a pitcher, and brought a pitcherful of water ;

some digged earth;and

Made a platform,and placed on it the Stick god . Some said

O ur drum is no t ready,

B urn this fire in front and light the lamp :

79. The Gonds calling on the gods t o stand still has a particu lar meaning, which is this .

The people ar e marching in a sor t of r ude proce ssion int o the hear t of the forest ; and theirgod s, consist ing of a sacred string of bells,a sacred spear,a sacred chain,

a sacred bamboo

st ick,and a sacred fan,being wav ed ab ou t,are being car r ied byp riests and bear ers along with

the mu ltitud e. Then the bearers of these consecrated emblem s are ord ered t o stop ; andth u s it is phrased that 'the gods are made t o etand still .81 . This standing on on one leg and with j oined hands is a G ond practice, probably learnt

byth ein from Hindu dev otees .

88. The tw elv e hills and the sev eh dales arethe s ame as those mentioned in the operriilgline of Par t I . I t is an established phrase among the G ond s .

84. The Stick god leading the way,means that thesacred bamboo was carried in front .

108. And began to p lay a good» tune on the K ingree ( ones tringed guitar) and the drum .

109. The god derived pleasure therefrom. Then two feet of

1 10. A calf were washed,and so) was its mouth ; vermilionwas applied to its forehead .

1 1 1 , ( Then) they threw them ( the other animals ) down,andkilled them too .

1 12 . The head of the calf w as placed before the god . Thensaid Lingo : Hear,O brethren ;

1 18 . Remove quickly the skin of the c alf and roast its liver .

1 14 . They brought s tones and made an oven, and placed a

pitcher on it .

1 1 5 . The pitcher w as filled w ith water,and flesh was put in it.

1 1 6 . T he leaf o f the Eyn tree (was ) cu t and brought,and madein to plate s .

1 1 7. And in a bras s plate they placed cooked rice, liv‘er,flesh,

and they lighted four lamps ,and took and placed thembefo re the gods .

Some made an ofi'

ering of silver pieces as a present tothe god .

T hus a heap o f silver up to the knee ( of a man) was

ga the red before the god .

T hen Lingo spoke : Hear,O brethren : The offerings are

go od in the cou rts o f the god .

( T here is ) no one t o receive these offerings .

Hear,O brethren From the midst of all ( these Gonds )some one should become a Pardhan,

1 23. And we will give ( this offering ) to him.

1 24 . Then Lingo looked well among the companyand ( saw) anold,hoary haired man firs t of all

1 29. The introduction of the Pardhan,a sort of priest among the Gonds, is here madeby the Pardhan who recites this v ery Song, for the glorification of himself and 1118 class .

The~Pardhans are well known in this capacity,

1 2 5 . And hav ing looked on him,‘

held his hand and said

1 26 . B ecome a Pardhan, and we will give you much wealth and

clothes ;

1 2 7. We w ill give you a horse,and whatever you ask u s we

w illn ot refuse.

1 28. Well,bro ther,( said the) old man,I am ( fit for nothing but)to sit and eat .

129. All salu ted him ; and some gave clo thes, some gav e silverpieces,

130. Some gave him a pipe.

131 . As they w ere rising,Lingo said : Hear,Obrethrenand friends.

132 . Then ( said they) what shallwe do,0brethren He rose,and made

133. Seven persons ou t of them to stand aside,and said to them,You become a family of seven.

134. He thenmade six persons to stand aside,

135 . (And said ) You become a family of six. He took fiv emore aside,

136 . And made them to stand,and breaking surface of theearth,a family of fiv e w ere formed .

137. T o the remaining four he said : B e div ided into families offou r and fi v e .

138 . After saying this,he reminded them to keep their promisew ith the tortoise.

1 27. The present of a horse is amark of high honou r . Th e god KodaPen,or horse-god,iswmetimes worshipped by the G onds, and sometimes there are sacred images of this animal1 28 . The man here giv es a true description of the character of the Pardhans, who are

av erse to any sort of indust ry.

133t o 137. This arrangement of some of the people into families of sev en,of six, o f

fi v e,and of four,might at first appear obscure,bu t it refers to the div ision of the peopleint o sect s,who worship— some,sev en gods; some,six; some,fiv e; some,four. I t is w ell knownthat some G onds are sev en-

god-worshippers, others six-

god worshippers,and so on.

138 . The cov enant with the tortoise refers to the epis ode mentioned in the precedingline 12 of this Part .

Then all made salutation . Lingo said : O brethren,look yonder towards the gods .

All persons looked behind, but Lingo vanished and went’

to the gods.

While they were looking behind,they said : Where is our

Lingo gone?

1 6 . Hearing Lingo 3 words, the Pardhan departed, and began

to go on the waytowards K achikopa L ahugad .

17. Hav ing reached it,he stood before the house and saluted

the head man,

1 8 . And said I am your Pardhan, I was made Pardhan

byLingo you r lord .

19. Lingo has sent me to you,because he know s that you po s

sess daughters ; to ask them in marriage he has sent

me to you .

I f I see a fit person I w ill j oin her in marriage.

2 1. Then the fou r bro thers said : G ive o ur salu tation to Lingo ,and tell him that we w ill no t rej ec t his proposals .

22 . Then went the Pardhan ( back) to his town, and came to

And said to Lingo : They told me to tell you that whateverLingo do es,to that w e w ill consent .

24. L et him give our daughters to anyone ( he likes}, said the

four bro thers

2 5 . So the Pardhan went to ask them fo r their daughters .

2 6. When he reached the place, he salu ted the landlo rd, and

called for a pitcherful o f water,and perfo rmed the omen.

27. Then the fo ur bro thers salu ted the ( new ) son-in~law .

2 8 . After w ashing the feet o f the Pa rdhan,they 111 1 13him to

sit in their house.

The Pardhan said : To make su re o f this, ( let u s) go to theliquor shop .

Wh atev er Ling ) told the Pardhai abou t marriage cere

menics,S ) the Pa r dhai s naw te ll the G onds to d ) .

Assemble fi v e daughters and grind tu rmeric .

Make an ofiering to the domes tic gods firs t ;

Then ( offer ) saffron to all o ther'

gods by theirnames .

29. This refers to the fatal habit among the G 33f13of ratifying ev erything with a drinkingbou t . Th e liqu or is made from the flower o t the Moha t ree,so abundant 1 11 the G ond forests .30 The d escription of the m i rr iage c e remm 1es,wn 1c n follows,is said t o b e c orr ect and

31 . Turmeric / is grown in the Gond -country.

Drink,w ash -the zfeet, pres ent) s alutations,joinyour hands

Spread the blanket and make all the G onds sit on it . B ringa pitcherfu l o f liqnor to the s ide o f the bridegroom,

and half a pitcher to that of the bride .

T hen make all the w omen, both small and great,'

s it down.

K eep the fu ll pitcher of liquor on the right side, and the

half-fu ll pitcher on the left .

38 . C all ( for) tw o more pitchersfu l of liquor,and drink acco rdingto cus tom.

89. K eep in a brass plate a lampi'. s ome grain s of ric e, tw o p ice,

s ome betelnu t, and a box of kuku ( red pow der ) , with

gulal powder ( red o chre ) . Apply a tika ( sacred mark ) to

the front of the pitcher,

40. Then apply the mark to the pitcher-man, then to all the

res t .

41 . B reak the pitcher,and let the w omen on the bride ’

s side

“ A pair of blankets having been spread : O father, youhave lo s t you r deares t daughter .

43. O father for the love of liquor you have los t your deardaughte r.

44. Then distribu te liquor cups, fi rst to the pitcher~man,

45 . And after he has drunk , then to all the res t of the company .

46 . Salute ( one ano ther ) and thu s observe the custom .

( Then shou ld } follow eating and drinking .

N ext ,at t he time bf departure, only those on

groom’

s s ide mus t fo llow with the departing,them .

Embrace, and then return to yourhouse ; and when thebrldegr oom reaches his hou s e,

35 . The spr eading of‘

thes e rough woollen blankets (sheep abound in the G ond count ry) laan int egra l .part of the c eremonies .

The frequ ent mention in this and in “following lines of diqu or and drinking,are ihdi catwe o f the c u stoms _ of t he Gonds ; and on these occ asions the women drink as much

50. Then his feet s hou ld be washed,and let all the gues ts onthe bridegroom

s side drink .

5 1. What happens next? Women should grind turmeric .

Then what song is to be sung?

5 2 . The B haw ajai ( bro ther’

s w ife ) shou ld say,Sing the bride

groom’

s song ; and the bridegroom may say, Sing theB hawaj al s s ong .

53. After this, le t all ( the w omen ) sing— let them g rind saffron,

and after making pow der of it,

5 4 . Let the B hawaj ai s ing, and say, B ro ther , s ing a s ong.

55 . After grinding saffron,w ave a lamp ; and in a brass platekeep s affron, and the preparation of betel-leaf with a

who le nu t .

5 6 . L et there be a box o f kuku ( red powder ), s ome grains ofrice,and a w aving lamp .

5 7. B ring in a po t of w ater, and hold liquor in a bottle named

Lauguyal .

58 . Then depar t from the hou se . L et mus 1c 1ans be in front,and let the bridegroom fo llow them

59. With s inging of s ongs . The saffron should be carried tothe god B himsen ;

60. Then to Mata, the goddes s of the town ; then to Matamai;fourthly,to the boundary gods .

6 1 . Fifthly, to the god Hanuman ; s ixthly to the Pandhari god ;s eventhly, t o the manes o f the dead ; then sing a s ongto Bhims en .

52 . B hawajai,the elder brother ’

s w ife, is alw ays an import ant personage on these occasions .

If there be no su ch person act ually, then some female r ela tiv e is chosen t o take the part .

5 7. Lauguyal is the common G ondi name for an earthen w ine bott le.

59. B himsen is, of couré ,a Hindu mythological personage ; bu t he is v enerat ed as a god

by the G onds .

60. Mata and Matamei represent the small-pox : the names are d oubt less borrow ed fromthe Hindu s . Mata is also one of the sev en sist ers allu ded t o in the preced ing hne273,Part I I . The fact of Mata b eing al so the goddess of the t own,indicat es that the d 1se

is frequ ent lypresent and permanently dreaded, part ly ow ing-t o the dirty and unwashed

c ondition of the G ond s . The boundary god s merely allude t o an imaginary d emarcat ion

among the hills ; t he G onds d o not pu t up land -marks .

6 1 . Hanuman,‘

th e monkey god,is-of cou rse ad opted from the Hind us . The Pandhari,the

god of the land, is a Mahrat t a name . The shad es of the dead (Sanyal Pen) are much

v enerated by the G onds .

8 1 . L et four w omen cause the bridegroom to be sent for.

After this

82 . Take the bridegroom into the house, and make him s it

there.

83. Place around him four pots fas tened together w ith thread,and

84a Surround the whole by one‘

thread connecting all.

85 O n the bridegroom’

s head. hold cakes plac ed on. an ironspoon,

86 . And let fi v e women hold their hands su spended over hishead .

87. Then pour oil on the cakes,and then on his head

88 . Pour Water ; then bath'

e him w ith water.

89. Then what cu stom follow s ? When the brother’s Wife

covers a ves sel on her lap, then the bridegroom should

put a copper pice in it .

90. Then let him throw w ater till her body is w etted.

91 . B bawajai ( bro ther’

s wife ) w ill throw water also,and then

let him bathe.

92 . After bathing, what is to be done ? Apply kuku ( redpowder ). What song shou ld

be sung P

98 . Women,holding betelnu t to his mouth,and holding kuku

( red powder) to his forehead, shall sing :“What Raj a’

son is this 2

94. Then what fo llow s ? Apply rice, then sing as follow s

95 . T he B hawaj ai ( brother’

s w ife) has not put oil in the

lamp .

”She w ill say, in front is the bridegroom, and

behind is the bride.

96. Then at the same time the drum should be sounded ;

97. And w ith pipes ; then should follow all the musiciansw ith cheerful hearts .

98. Let ( bo th) young and old men be merry, and raise up the

bridegroom w ith force .

99. And make him sit on a heap of cowdung,and dance gladlyaround him.

100. One w oman. having lifted up the seat on which the bride

groom bathed, should dance also .

101 . O ne having taken a waving lamp, let her dance also .

109. Then let all dance and sing ; first one may ( lead), thenlet all follow him.

103. Thus ends the bathing— the bathing ceremony of the

bridegroom.

104. What then fo llows Make the bridegroom to be seated,and let four w omen lift him.

After raising him, let him be taken home, and havingseated him,

bring the Wedding cakes.

The cakes having been eaten,all begin smglng.

As they move round ( turn in the dance ), let him wipehis hand on the garment o f B hawajai ( bro ther

s w ife) .

What then happens ? What is the eating and drinking tobe ?

109. B ring a pitcher full of liquor to the house, and keep it

there; and call the gu ests into the house, and make

them sit down. Call w omen,bo th young and old,andlikewise make them sit down .

1 10. Apply first a tika, sacred mark, to the pitcher ( of liquor) ,and then to the pitcher-man,

1 1 1 . Then to all ( the company ) .

1 1 2. After applying the tika (mark) to the lid of the pitcher,open it and dis tribu te the liquor .

1 13. Serve on the plates millet, and peas,and chillies,

A little salt, and serve as god ( blessed you) .

99. This sitting on a heap of cowdung is a G ond cu stom. B u t the idea of cowdungbeing particularly desirable,must hav e b een learnt from the Hindus .

1 1 5 3. After'

eating-‘ is -ended,t hen

*cause the *hands to

be w ashed

in a bras s plate. This is the eating cus tom— s o do .

1 16. After ris ing,what follows-next ?5 L et t he preparation be

made for going to t he bridegroom’

s house .

1 17. Call one w oman,and place on her head a pitcher, and on

it a burning lamp, and around it let a betel-leaf be

fastened.

1 1 8 . Then let all the women in process ion pass.

1 19: When i all is ready, let s the: bridegroom with all the '

company depar t from the house .

1 20. First,take the names sof the {

godsaand s o i letu them depart .

1 2 1 . After their depar tu re, let‘them‘

ofier preparation o f betel

to the god Maroti, and let the bridegro om fall at its feet .

1 22 . With the musicians beating: theirfdrums,let all itak‘

e theirhomeward way.

121 . The god Mm ti is the same as Hanuman,or the monkey-god of the Hindu»

F I N I S .

Gowra Parhatal wasi niltu N aarayantun pu si kiya latuG owra Parbati hav ing come stood to N arayan to ask begun

141. Ime boni andi ana Bhagawantana Subadar andariThou who art I of Bhagawan Subadar I am

15. Aske ime bartua wati Mahadewa baga mantor honuAnd then why hast come Mahadewa where is he

16. Ma mnnne ata pa] aye N arayan N arbaddat Gangs. adina thaditShe first came after N arayan N arbadda G unga of

paro hanj l nila latorkon hav ing gone to s tand began

17. Pope masike Raja Mahadewa waya latu r Parhatal keik j odiSwimming Raja Mahadewa to come he began Parbati hands j oinedkiai nila latahav ing to stand began

1 8. Pajadal N arayan hom nde keik j odi keya latnrkB ehind her N arayan he also hm ds t o join began

19. Aske Mahadewa bang inta ime bartun w atal parin kadane'

Then Mahad ewa wh it says thou ( for) what hast c om a twelv e threshingfl aorsK nia penk awn baga mandaof Gond gods they Where are

20. U sade hang indn r‘

bor K artao Subal veru bang-1. indur imeThen what he says who K artao Subal he what says to

MahndewaMahadewa

2 1 . B ars. mahinana tapu kim munne mikun idenamalum aialFor twelv e months dev o tion d o bere 'ifter t o v ou t heir news kn'

1wg‘(wfl l be)

22 . Seiynng mahinang atung sarung mahinang a tnng paro tapsha atuFiv e m onths pas sed six ‘mou ths became dev o tion fi nished

23. Aske B hagawantal w asi_

n,ilt 11 r N abadewa itke

l1akaThen B hagawan hav ing come stp od—clo se to Mahad ewa so a callingsitu r horu

gav e"him

29. N iwa tapu atu inga ime yeta babero pasiya ana I nli maThy dev otion is finish ed now thou Minter o ut gf emerge 1 how shall

rpasika.

£5 . IN akun hallekeiku naknn halle ykalku naknn halle gkanknZl

‘o zme W e V tOJne no feet to me

«no e yes

26. Asks v eru Mahadewaun tala , ,at u tala to n ohu tingatung

Then to him (that is) to Mahadewa head became t o head hair becamoo

kanku T andu te pasitim g

eyes two‘

became

2 7. Sabe mauyana mu rat bane matu r jagu e v edachi atu

All man’

s form w as made (in) world (of) light become

28 . Ahu r1e kanku tahachi hud lu r v eru Bhagawau tal ma tkasiThus eyes hav ing raise he saw him B hagawan hav ing seen

hatu rwent away

29. Bhalo a ta halle dista halle ichor batu”

Well has not become god appeared no t so mu ch story

kenja pentihear O G od

30. N awa tapu waya hatu nakun manyana mu rat siti idu bl1a loMy d ev ot ion in V ain has gone t o me of m an

s form gav e. t his w ellhalle El ia»

has not happened

31. Uncle v e r u t apu mandi kitu rAnd he dev otion established

2 . N e w s nowodinku atung poda wo r tuN ine mon ths nine days became boil bu rst

33. K ali Adaw peida atu r horn K ali Adaw peida atu r askeK alia Adao . born Was that Kalia Adao born then

Mahadewa bang ituMahadewa what said

341. Aske honu Mahadewa bang itar ime tapu k ime

Then to him Mahadewa what said thou d ev ot ion d o

35 . B orn K ali Adaw tapu kitu r undi mahina atu raudu mahinangWho K alia Adan dev ot ion did one m onth become two months

atung hana kalkeidun poda wa turbecame to his hand boil came

36 . Hadu podha we rtu sola tudik jalme matung aske v eru itu rThat boil burst sixteen daughters born were then he said

37. Iwu tudik bartun peida atungThese daughters wherefore were born

38 . N awa sir tala aial iv eruku ans. bagador mangal talkaMy h ead below will be t o these I of what place h u sband s shou ld bringihun itu r

39. Ashe tu dikun bisi yetrapo‘

wadei situ r aske watnekeThen daught ers hav ing caught in water he threw after throwing them in

Soke matu so la bhar dhartari peida atuDry it bec ome sixteen kind s of ear th produ ced were

h ana u ncle tapu kika aske nawa j iwate shanti wayarI mo re dev otion will do then my mind (at ) peace w il1 be

Aske v e 1 l 1 K a 1 taw Subal tapu mandi kitu r v ena heide podhaThen he d ev o t ion e s tablished in his hand bo il

43. Pa1 in kadang kora peuk jalme matungTw elv e tl1 1 eshingfioors of G ond god s w ere bom

44. K oitork pagare matu rk belze bakeG onds spread ov er hither thither

45 . K oitork s tu rk jagang jagang matang matang gonding ghodingG ond s becam e from place to place on h ill t o hil l

1 11 v alley t o v alley

46 . Madak madak K oitu rk atu rk ho rkna karar batal mandanaTree to tree G ond s became their honor how mu s t be

47. B ati dis tn adan J iana tan tindauaIf any thing appeai ed t o mus t kill it and eat

48 . Halls samj e maiwa kolyai bhalyal adan31 1 1111 tan tindanaNo d ist inction m us t know jackal tho se killed t o it theymust eat

49. Halle samj e maiwa ku rshu mawkuNo d istinction must be ant elope (d eer) sambur

50. Halle samj e maiwa tan t izidana halle samj e maiwa u ti puralN o t knew d istinction sow m u st eat no t knew distinction quail pigeon

5 1 . B alls samj e maiwa kawal gidal tan tindana dokum bajN o t knew dis tinction crow kit e mu s t eat ad ju tant v u ltu re

5 2 . Dokke p aune kida kituk muda piya yermi belyalLizard frog beetle cow calf she and he-buffalo

53. Yalk ghu sing warche11g ihun tinda latu rRats bandicoot s squ 1rrels

so t o eat beg in

54. 1 tork horku K oiturk peids s tu rk bange kooho bange pakkoSuch these G ond s b01 n w ere some 1 aw some n pe

Sark m ahinang yer kiwa halle dbad gatna todiSix months bathing mu st not be d one nicely face mu s t not

56 . Gagara gu tate kudsi mandana iturln dunghill hav ing fallen mu s t remain

74: I hun'

indu rk borku K oit ork bore him k'

atka bore him tongiSo said they who G onds some seized a s tick some s zizzed a stone

75 . B ore him dhakala penda ti langoti burbu r nair tudi latangSome s eized a clod of hips clo th was shaking sending t o fly began

76 . B eke mandot rapo penyade bhuyar trapo ade rapo soditurI t into a ho le (god ’

s pris on) on the ea1 th into it did en ter

77. Warchi tanpaja K oit ork sedita latu rkThe squirrel after G onds to

run began

78 . Parin kadang K oitu rk somtar latu rk bado bhuy ai trapoTwelv e threshingfl oors (of) G onds t o run began where in the cav e

79. Aske sab K oiturk sodituik towha nalu rk pistu rThus all G ond s ran when four remained

80. Parbatin nind lagsi achalateThey came to Parwati she sleeping was in the meantime

8 1. N ind ngade towha Parbatin chinta lagtuS leep opened when to Parwati care fell

Iehong diyang mawa K oitork m atork disorkMany days my G onds were no t seen

83. Dhowlagiaite kalla anduO n myDhawalagim noise was going on

841. N cnd kameke a s ichong diyang deing gundTo-day silence has become so many days smell was

85. N cnd deingo ihun ituTo-day smell is not so said

86 . Bangena bangeSome where

87. Mawor Mahadewa disor K oitorkun beke atu r itke ahu n

My Mahadew a not t o be seen G ond s wheth er has he led so

itu Parbatalsaid Parwati

88 . Towha Doulagiriparo tarksi hudtur bagane K oitu rk

Dhawalagiri hav ing ascended saw where (no) G onds

disork ihun ituappear so said she

89. Mahadewtun pu se kitu mawark K oitu rk disork ihunMahadewa asked my G onds appear no t so

K oitork sodinake hudtu r

G ond s(entering I saw not

90. Mahadewa tetur sola ku tang tingi darwaj ate kechiMahadewa arose sixteen cubit s long a s tone on th e door he laidsitu rad tongi jake kitu K oiturk

(with) that st one he shu t in G onds

91 . B asmasur deituna pahara nilochi situ r Parbatal pu se kituB asmasur the d emon t o guard he stationed Parwati t o ask began

bade ihun kiti nawawhy so is done

92 . Dhawalagiri karab kitu rk nakun songu watur anahun kitanDhawalagiri bad made t o me anger came I thus did

ihun itu rso said

93. Tanrapo nalu rk pis tu rk hork soditu rk ihun itur boruFrom them fou r hav e su rv iv ed they fl ed so said who

MabadewaN aba dewa

94. Parbatal tanwa mante itar K oiturk mure maturkParwati in her mind said G ond s los t are

95 . N alurk K oitu rk agatal soditu rk undi mata tarksiFour G onds thence fl ed one bill ascending

96 . Munne mada latu sanaghanysenda tanparo latu rkA little forward a t ree was straight gone like (a date t ree) on it they climbedagatal hadturkthence they looked

97. Makun makh al jaga disoTo u s a hiding place is not v isible

98 . Waru r hudtur undi jaga dista inda latur bagateO ne looked a place appears to say began on one side

dista K achikopa Lahugadappeared

99. Ad donguda saribitu rk aga haturkOf that jungle the road they t ook there theywent

100. Age. malurk tamork hurku mandaThere the four brothers they remained

101 . Aske bagane K oitor halle Parbatin chinta lagteeThen anywhere Gonds were not t o Parwati care become

102 . Tapshya mandi kituDev otion she did

103. Sarung mahinang atungSix months became

104 Parbatana tapu nintu B’

hagawantana delhera hale matuParwati

’s d ev otion fu lfilled B hagawan in a swing to swing began

105. B orbhak tajan nawa kalite bor tap kitu r hon tandatWhat dev otee my resting t ime who d ev ot ion did who (it is) see

hukum N arayant’

un k itu rorder t o Narayan he made

106. V eru budale positur wasi Dhou lagiri parbatneHe t o see went ou t hav ing come t o Dhawalagiri mountain

107. wasi Parbatanige nila latur ime badia Jiwate tapshya’

. kitiC oming near Parwati to stand began thou in the mind dev otion did

nawang paring kodang K oid pink d isongmy threshingfl oor Gond god appear not

108 . I tke ana t ap shya kit ang ihun indal hanu ime malsikunTherefore I d ev o tion did s o she said go thou back again

v eha Bhagawan v eru mata latu r v ichike tak sike haturt ell B hagaw c

/m he t o return b egan running walking he went

hanykun nila latu r v eru N arayan B hagawantige ehatahav ing gone to stand he began that N arayan to god t o telllaturbegan

109. Purbatal tapu kitu idu paran kadang K oitang tanworParwati

dev o tion d id'

these tw elv e threshingfl oorsa Gonds where

pusi kiu ta sabe dongude hud tu r halle bagane disorkare asking in all jungle seen (they are) not anywhere not seen

1 10. Hanu pajane ime v eha amot niwak K oitorkun hudsi sikomGo back thou say w e thy Gonds . will make v isibleihun indur boru B hagawanoso said who Bhagewan

1 5 . Agatal deisi ukade hanji atur aga J'

huleThence hav ing leapt a swing hav ing gone he fell in a swing

maia latu r abun kinake din muletto swing began so doing day set

16 . Lingal parkane t echi hatur ukedo kadangi latu rwith haste arose and sat in a swing t o swing began

17. Her Lingal ye tun dag malke lingandag halleThat (was such that ) t o water might be a st ain bu t to Lingo there was no stain

18 . B omli hira kapadi tira pen pariyorOn his nav el was a diamond on his forehead a sandle wood mark a div ine saint

Lingal salmetor atu r rand salknor atur

of a year’

s full became of two years became

19. Gundate khumka garsawa ukade narrnana ihun bangeIn turmeric powder he played in the sw ing he slept so some

diyang atungdays (passed)

20. Puro naw warshang atung her t oddati bange tinwaFu ll nine years became in his mou th anything must not eat

donguda mada gu ta tangof the jungle t ree (or) of thickets

2 1 . Linga aske tanwa dilte itu r ige bore disor manyalkthen in his mind said here no one is seen

disor bade janwar diso

appears not some animal appears not

2 2 . N aleha batiyo diso l 1aleha bagamatke aga hankan

Me like some appear not me like somewhere will be there will I go

23. 1hun itar agatal undi diya pasi u r munne sigar hatta

So said thence one day he rose before straight he went

24. Suyalmata tan pare tark tu r aga Mundita kumbita madak

(Like s uced le) hill on as cended there Mundita kumbita t rees

matang

25 . Tan khalwa K irsadita mada mata tan punggak wasi adena

Below them Kirsadita t ree was to it flower had come

2 6. Hike hatur pungakun hudsi kusi tanwa l ate atur

Thither he w ent flowers hav ing seen (in his) mind came

pungakana wasu yetur

of the flower the smell t o t ake

27. Agatal habade hatur sugal mundi

Hence beyond he went on a.precipitou s needle hill up a tree

mada tark tur

2 8 . Agatal hudi latu r zhona baju te K achikopa Lahugadta dhuaThence t o l ook began on the side (of)

ata dhua hudsiarose hav ing seen

29. I d bati andu itke itu r aga ,hanj 1 hundana itur

This what is so said he there hav ing gone must see

30. Agatal raktur dhua hudsi handi latu r herku nalurkThence he ascended smoke hav ing seen to go began these four

tamurk matark verk matkise sikar tachi matuk tan

b rothers were they quickly prey b rought had it

borsandurk bange v etal bange pahana tindurktheywere roasting some cooked s ome raw theyWere eating

Achlate her hatu r boru Lingal hen lindaa horkuMeanwhile (at that time) h e w ent w ho him hav ing seen they

netu rk horku netu rk herkun budsa her n itu r warona

stood up seeing them he st ood them hav ing s een he stood still with eaizh

32 . Wadkork nalurk aske aga tamwa dilts inda laturkThey did not speak the fou r then there in the ir minds to say began

33. Aplo nalu rk manda dada abun boru seiwark tamarkWe fou r are 0 brothers this is be , fi v e b rothers

aikat r odada hon koyatw e w ill be 0 b rothers call him

34. Handakat hon talkat aske handa laturkWe will go him w e w ill bring then t o go ( they) b egan

35. H onige hatu rk ima bo r . andi ihun itu rk bon LinganWhere he was theywent t hou who art so said t o whom L ing?)

36 . Lingal inda latur ana ~ satodhar Lingana andu matateto say b egan I am a s siu t (named) L‘ ingo I hav e on head

kupar ihun itu bork unthe kno t of hair so said t o whom

37. N alu rk tamu rkun herku inda laturk mawa ronu da dadaFour brothers they t o say b egan ( t o) ou r hou se come O

,brother

38. H on ari watu rk aske j agate sikar arsi mataHim hav ing taken (they came) then in

that place“

game had fallen

39. Lingal inda latur idu bati andu herk'

indalatu rk amott o say began this what is they ~tosaybegan we

sikar tat orm dada

game brought 0brother

B ate andu inda latur Lingal padi andu'

What (kind of sikar) is it t o say b egan Lingo a pig it is

41 . Tena tadaki nakun simtu aga tatlaki halwake aske inda latnrkI ts liv er to me giv e there liv er was not then t o say b egan

Q2 . K enja dada bintadakita amot janwar j itoromHear O brother withou t liv er we animal hav e killed

43. Aske inda latur bintadakita janwar baduro andoThen Lingo t o say began without liv er animal what is

madun had simtto me see allow

44. Aske herkun artu sankat v eninga bagata hudurskomThen them fell the thought to him now of what place we shall show

bintadakita

45. Janwar ihun i turk waror bang intor nawa bat kenjaAn animal so said one what says my word hear

mandachi alpo manda pedhork hen dongudeis a litt le we are great him in j ungle

warkat padhang tonginrapowe shall carry large (among) stones

46 . sakunrapo sanding waluhat aske daranar udanu rAmong thorns in thickets we shall roam then h e will be tired he will sit down

47. Yer watkanu r harosanu r aske tanaiye malada‘

indanurFor water he will thir st he will be hungry then back t u in he W111 say

418. Lingan donguda sare tantu i k tirkam tang k eide“

(With) Lingo jungles road selected bow and arrow h e hand held

49. Munne kurs dist tan jaka iturOnward antelope appeared it kill said n o

50. Tan tadak'

e manta munne maw disal tan jakaTo it liv er is before a sambur will be seen 1t k ill ye

51 . Aden tadaki manda munne malol disal t an jakatTo it liv er is b efore a hare will appear it kill ye

52 . Tan tadaki mandaTo it liv er is

53. Lingal daror hirk r nalurk tam urk darturk

t ires not these four brothers were t ir ed

54a. Yer . watkturk pare mata sareg hata tan pare

For water they thirsted abov e the hill steep was on

tarktu rk yeta kojhudi laturkthey ascended for water to search began

68. U sade v erka marsu neli madturk wadei siturk hanJ1kunThen they the hatchet down threw (hav ing) th rown away gone

Lingat o Lingo

69. Mawang k eikun phodk watung v erk marek wadu situ rkTo ou r hands blisters come they hatchet hav e thrown down

Hatu rk hanJ1 watur neede Lingal tetur marsTheywent (aside) hav ing gone they sat down then rose t he hatchet

keide bitu rin hand he took

71 . N atka latur madakun paro neadak aruta tanag sirk kataTo cu t began trees t he t rees fell then roots to dig

N etematur ihun dongan natka undi gatkate baloparka iturHe app lied himself thus j ungle t o cut (in) one hour a good field made

v erkuhe

73. Mawang keikun pbodk watung u ndi mada mawa wastneTo ou r hands blis ters came one tree by u s

halle iwata halle v er

not (is) cu t d own that

743. Lingal u ndi gatkate bachole madak warktu rLingo (in) one hou r s ev eral t rees has cu t down

75 . Cariyal t e di k itu r tanrapo wanj ing ya tar bheke nakeB lack s oil he has made on it rice (dhan) he has sown here and there

walum kitu ra hedge he has made

76 . U ndiye darwaja d ohotu r askeO ne only d oo r a tatty ( s ha tter) he has bound

77. V erku agatal t etu rk anwa natena sariya handa laturkThey thence arose t o their own v illage by the road t o go began

tamwa ron waturkto their own hou s e they came

78 . Pahilo mirag lagtu chidore abhadun kariyal disa latuFirs t d ay (of) rainy s eas on began a lit tle ‘

c lou d b lack t o seem

79. Hainal wade sute matu abhar sabbe din yake mathWith great force the wind was loosed sky all day cloudy was

piru barse maturain to fall began

80. Sawan j agate tongron handa nete matu sebbe gardorangIn open place up t o knees rills t o go began all the ho lesbuJe mat tingt o fill began

Pir snte kio mu nd diyang aneke pir ngade baganeRain c eas ed not for three days hav ing became (rain) fair all

wanj ing parsiya lat ungrice to spring b egan

8 2 . Sabbe‘

nel hirwal disa latu u ndi diyak nalung botangAll field green t o appear began (in) one day fou r fingers breadth

83. Undi mahina at u tougrou wanJing( In) one month became up to knee rice

84. Sola kandiyang mawk mandung hav enrapo mamalSixteen scores of dee r were among them unclebhasiyalnephew

85 . I d wanj ing was su te mata av en kare m ata aske menakeThis u s e smell spread was to them known it became then t o graze

hake handathither w ent

86. Pars ing selate mamal padtu r kalwa selate bhasiyal padturO n the u pper end uncle sat on low er end nephew sat

87 . Eliasiyal katku t tetur deitu r paroNephew with cracking his joints arose leaped u pwards

88 . Randok kauk nilu tung . phedate ku shite watur de isikeTwo ears upright it made great ly in to pleasu re it came leaped

89. N e l manda e1waka wanjing hé rwalk distang kowaro charoField is b eau t ifu l (of) rice green appear s t ender foddermanda ihun itu rit is so said he

90. Makun chider hukum siani amot sola kandiang maukTo u s the lit t le one please giv e it w e sixteen scores (of) robis

haneromW l ll go

91 . WanJlng tanji waeron nawa bat kenja bhasaThe rice hav ing eat en we wil l come

my w ord hear O nephew

92 . Sabbet a paror mata Lingana padkata paror yenma ihunOf all the names t ake Lingo ’

s field ’

s name take no t s o

itu r boruhoru imate so la kanding mauk mant rit mikunsaid though you sixt een s cores (or) d eer are to you

v ij atun undi irnal hallefor seed one keep will not

93. U sade bhasiyal intor ima mantani sedal mantorom riyarkThen nephew said thou ar t old w e are you ng

94. Amot hanykun tindok om bore hudanu r te deik omWe hav ing gone will eat any one will see then w e will leap away

95 . Teik ku tang deikom ima seda mamyal sapadeFiv e cubits We Will leap thou art an old man will be cau gh t

96. Maiki itke warintant ori niwa kenj om ima wama

To go thu s thou art afraid thy w ord [ hear not you C ome not

97,B or bhasiyal ihu n itur s arke tokar kitu r kasuk kaukWho nephew s o said s traight tail d id ere c t its

kitar paja maltu rear s d id back t u rned

98 . Maman lagtu doka u sade tetu r paj aya handalaturUncle fe lt grief then rose aft er them t o go began

99. Maman wale laku wa tsi situ rk mawku padka t

Uncle v ery far t hrown theygav e (left behind) rohis the fieldkachu l hatunear w ent

100. B hasiyal mawken paja kitu agatal s ari hudi la tu r sariNephew (the) robis behind pu t thence way to look began a way

bagane pu t oanywhere was not obtained

101 . Mawk intang marapo mamal shahanal mator amo t bon

The robis said among us uncle wis e was we whom

pu se k ikomshall we ask

102 . H onpaja irtit makun ima karhhari mat ini

Him behind (you ) left to u s you chief are

103. V ehatu r bhasiyal au a karbhar kintone nawa hudsekun imat kinitSaid nephew I w ork d o my hav ing s een you do

104. Tana m unne atur bang inta undi maw

He in front became when says one d eer

105 . Munne mama v ehandu r Lingal padki andu ima kenchta

At firs t uncle has said Lingo field it is you d id not hear

munne huda ihun itu r

befo re look so he said (be prudent)

1 19. H alls bagane koyng dis ong iv ena bagane mohojba IagoN o where marks of feet appeared their no where t races appeared

120. B ade pad te bide nilta bade narumtaSome sat d own s ome s t ood some slept

1 2 1 . Fangak mu sk undur narumsi Lingo mandu r adho rat ne

(Of) flowers in the smelling s leeping Lingo was (at) half of the night

1 22 . B 3ru kanchk tu r hadu padka mawku titungHe was d reaming saw a field by rohis eat en

u shto wanj ingspo ilt rice

123. Lingal agatal posit ur K achikopa Lahungadota sari bitu rLingo thence depart ed Kachikopa Lahugad

s road to look

124 . 1‘gatal pasitu r horkunige watu r dada itu r ro talThence w ent to them c ome brother he said of the hou se

bahero pasiyatoutside come ye

125 . Undi batu kenjat apalota padka tang wanjing mawku t itangO ne word hear o u r field of rice rohis ate

1 26 . N awo apalo bapi watkat halle ihun itu rk ho rkuFirst fr uit t o u s t o offer is not s o said who

nalu rkte tamm kfou r brothers

1 27. U sade Lingal intor kenj atro dadaThen Lingo said bear 0 brother

tit lingthey ate

1 28 . Ushto atung av ena naw o ha lle mawkna tadakita naw o

Spoilt hav e they firs tfru it w e hav e not o f the rohis liv er a firs tfru it

w atkanI will offer

1 29. Lingo‘nan pariyona ailran hallete nawa sato handa

Lingo a dev ot ee I will be otherwise my pow er will go

130. And. pugak mu skintona nawa pirI with the flower of smell my stomach

131 . K oitork mantork horkna parbapi nindal ho rkna tindaneG onds are their bellies w ith what will theyfill their eating

Wanj ing u shto kitung baw u mawku ihun itu r born LingalRice (Spoil) d id what rohis so said who Lingo

133. Ahun itu r nalu rk tamu rk hatiyar biturk tirkamtangSo said fou r bro ther

s weapons held bow and arrow

134 Mawkna parode ris watur padkate hanJr hadturk kiturkOf rohis on account anger came in field going fell into

rapo sodita latu rkmidst t o enter began

135 . N adam hanj i hudturk kariyat todi disi latuIn centre going fell black soil to appear began

136. Warning phanku disi latung hudturk LingalRice st ubble to ppear began saw (nothing) Lingo

Dakata r isu matate tark tu agane batatunFrom of the heels the anger to the head ascended on the Spotkaskturhe bit

138. Lal kank atung bagatung mawku manda ihun itur hudaturRed eyes became where rohis are so said see yo

139. Horku hudi latu rk mawkna koyng bagane disongThey t o see began of rohis foot marks anywhere appeared not

1 40. Munne kakeda distn kop te aga hudturB efore a bough appeared his fo o t marks there looked

141 . Unde munne taktur jhadi distu jhadi rounde masiAnd before w ent jungle appeared j ungle trodden down

mata oga koji distu r

was there trace appeared

1 42 . Hatu rk teri disong munne ali meda. mataTheywent still not seen (226,r obis) a little forward peepul tree was

143. Lingal atu ana mada tarj intona imat khalwa nilatLingo said I tree w ill climb you below stand

144. Agatal hudtu r munne mawk distungThence looked before rohis appeared

145. Mawak dist nng bade u t ta bade naramta bade deimtaRohis appear some are seated some are s leeping some leaping about

146 . N alung khak imat amt miwang tirk womt ichon‘

g( On) four sides you be you r arrows take with you

147. Mawkun rapodal unde teri panda simat( So) rohia among so many one eV en to go allow not

148. Ana madatal j intona imat khalwadal J imtaI from a t ree will strike you from below strike

149. Acho kenshturk nalung khak s tu rk makseke haturkSo much they heard (on) four sides

1 50. N alung kongtane aturk tirk jhodekiturk av anp a(On) four corners hav ing become arrow applied to them to beat

laturk parodal Lingal 31a laturbegan from on high Lingo to strike began

1 51 . Mamal pistu r undi mawa pistu tansistu bitur tir khalwa artuUncle seemed one rohi seemed at it aim he took arrow below (fell)

1 52 . Lingal tanwa dilt i itar nawa keida tiru airtu id batal sat

Lingo in his mind said ou t of my hand arrow fell that how omen

1 53. Tanwa bhaktal japo matur honu mamal distur apalotaThy serv ant w orships thee that uncle appears of mine

bange t ita halleanything has not eat en

154. M adee sodit a latu tan toda mamal sodite latu r nalurkFemale (rohe) to run began w ith it uncle t o run b egan fou r

tamu rk tan paja lagtu rk ige biyakat aya j ibatbrother them behind pu rs ued here w e W111 catch them w e W111 cat ch

1 55. Ihun iturk sapade mata halle baw u mawku paja masi

So said found theyw ere not who rohis (behind) t urning

1 56. Pador kenj atro dado mawku batung disong halle mawarEldest said here 0 brother rohis hav e gone appear not our

Lingal paja mandaLingo behind is

Tak aploto malsidat ihun itar bora

At the distance let u s r etu rn so said who

pedhartamu itu r

eldest brother said

1 58 . B arkun pu se k itur imat baga hanl r ihun itu r boru LingalTo ,them asked you where gone so said who Lingo

1 59. Amat hanp matoram dada mawun paja matorom maw

We gone had O brethren rohis after

sodisihatu diso halle amot maltom nihiga

fl ed appear not we returned near you.

1 60. Mikun v ehatantona begane hudat miwa

175. B ange jhadi koitur sari artu hanj ikun tiru artu ngatelSome grass it cut a road fell after going arrow fell thence

sedanaat the old man

176 . K isunparodal. tir t etu hanji yedang sedanang miyakFrom ofi‘

the fire arrow arose hav ing gone (to) sev en (of) the old man’

s daughters

177. Hav ena darwajate artu tiru hawa hudtung v ichikeIn their d oor fell arrow they

watung hadu tiru p ehaksi watungtheycame hav ing lift ed they took away

178 . Tirt un irtu ug babon pu se kindung dawaThey kept (i t) their fath er they asked 0 fathermadming baske indangin marriage when will yo u giv e

1 79. Haun yedung selak sedal indur

(Thus) who seV en sis ters of old man’

s said

180. N awa diltor pu tanur bonku’

sikun mikun ballleteAccording to mymihd will be t o him I Will g1 v e you (or) no .

1 81 . Abune mandakit ihun indu r sedal boru B ikad G awdiAs you are yo u W111 remain s o sa1d old man who R 1kad G awadi

1 82 . K enja ro dada nawa palo ana 31tona tirHear O b rethren my w ord I d ischarged arrow

183. Ad sariya bantu munne kis u disal agatal kisu talkitBy this ro ad go befo re fire will appear th ence fire bring

1 84. Hor int or home ima hanu intor ana hanor

(Thus) he said t o them they t o ( one to an other) said I will not go

chidor tamu hat ur

youngest brother went

1 85 . K isu distu kisu kachu t hatu r agatal hudtur phedayeFire he saw fire near w ent thence saw a large

kodt leha sedaltrunk like the old man

Lakanal hudtu'

r sedana padka ,bhowatal walum kisi

F rom afar he saw old man'

s field around it hedge was made

1 87. Undi sari irshi tan tate dohachi nadum padkateOne road he kept t o it a shu t ter he had tied in the middle of the fieldkis kisi

1 88. I rukna kodku mangita yachi mator mad sajnangOf a Mohwa the trunks of Anjun were pu t in trees of Saj

1 89. Tekatang katyang iama kisi kisu patu si mator

Teak faggots fire was kindled

190. Kisniru si mata kisna shehane Rikad GawadiFire was blazed at the fire by the heat B ikad G awadi

hainake narumsi mator

(in) deep ( sleep) slept was

191 . Rakasun leka disandu r v er nar umsi v er Ahke sa ral walsike

Giant like he appeared he was sleeping the ‘ Ahkesaral st ealthilyka

chum hatur sedan hudtu r sedan kodanekenear went the old man saw the old man (while) b eh olding

mendodun pinakatang watungto (his) body cold bu st les came

192 . Tadake deia latur Jiwate waditu r manda ihun itu rHis liv er t o leap began in his mind much afraid he was then h e said

193. V eru sedal sedanur nakun hu dsi t indanu r nana arkateIf the old man r 1ses me he will see (and) eat en I will be

194. K isu kalsikun woyaka aske nawa jiwa pisarFire hav ing stolen I W111 carry then my life will s u rv iv e ( safe)

195. V er wat siko kisunige hatu r undi v isku r bitu r hadu v isku rHe secretly near fir e went one brand t ook that brand

tamadita anduof Tembhu r was

196 . Tahuneke tana sidange mirtu sedana kulatun hanJ1kunWhen hav ing lifted it a spark leaped away on old man

s hip it hav ing gone

tunatu

fell on him

197. Thaliatsor v e nu phoda watu v eru sedal daska masiAs large as a lota the blister had come that old man alarmed became

tetur v en

he arose

198 . N akun karoo wasta bagane tindale pu ta k'

hanknaTo me hunger is felt anywhere t o eat I get not of fleshnawhari asithe desire is

199. K owan kakade leka bhalo wati

(A) tender cucumber lik e well (hast thou) come

v eru Ahkesaralto that Ahkesaral

200. Sadita latur pajaye sedal vita latur kis wadsiTo run he began behind old man to run began fire (brand) he threw

situ r munnetaaway in front

201 . Munne sodita latur pa'

aye sedal vita latur 1ge bika nag'

Onward to run he began be ind old man to run began here I will seize

said he

202 . Hagatal maltur tanwa padkate watu r kisunige han31kutur bangThence turned to his field came near fire going

randenonsense (is this )

203. K awaro ina sikar wasi mataTender lik e prey Was come

204. Tinka itan pasisi hu tur nawa keideI wou ld hav e eaten it he Said it is escaped from my hand

baskane wayarsomet ime I will get it

206 . Munne bang atu Ahkesaral hatu r malsikunB efore what happened Ahk esaral Went hav ing retu rned thence

t amu rkunto his brothers

207. I tur kenj atro dada ana kismun hatan imat rohtitSaid h ear O brethren I t o fire was gone yo u sent

padkate padhoree sedalin field a giant only old man

208. K eik wadseke kalk tacheke v itu r ana pissi watorHands throwing feet lift ing ran I hav ing surv iv ed

I came

209. Amot banom ihun iturk horku nalurk tamu rk Lingal iturkWe will not go so said who four brothers Lingo said

igene ndat ro

here sit ye

2 10. Dadalknit bator sedal mantor ana budei wayak‘

0 brothers what sort of person he is I hav ing seen will come

2 1 1 . Agatal pasitu r munne tak ta r jbodi lagtu agaThence he w ent onward he walked riv er happened to be there

21 2. Mund tumang distung munne hu turThree bot t le gourd s appeared in front he saw them

Waduda kati distn aden tahturB amboo stick appeared he lift ed it

214. Jhoditun u sa aga

The riv er was flooded there

Faras pade tana arsi v eli v elitun tumang( I t washed away) the bott le gourd t ree its seed fell to each twinner bottle gourdlagsi

216. Wadu ta kati pongsi wasi adena kiturA bamboo stick in its hollow he pushed its made

230. Ritur tana tokar ytar bekono nektu tanrapodal wajaH e he ld it a st roke he gav e well sounded from th e midst of it music

tantar nu rak tinghe drew of hundred tunes

231 . B akota neki latu leng Todde wartapWell to sound began (sound) (Was) with mouth as if sung

pata kenyle wantaa song can be heard

232 . Tana agajne mada mata kam ekene atangAt it s s ound t ree hill silent became

233. Sedala nehanage konde saran sodita harkane tichi

( In) old man’

s b udly ears the s ound ent ered in haste hav ing risen

u tu r j akane sedal kanku t ahata laturhe sat up quickly old man his eyes t o lift began

234. N ehahnaye kenyl latur hake hakehudi bagane disoHe desired to hear began here there to look anywhere appeared

235 . Pite bagatal wata nendu wadki lata bakota kogadlekaA bird whence has t come t o-day t o sing began good maina like

236. Madak hudi latur bagane bange diso khalwa hudsi mator

Tree to see began anywhere nothing appeared below looked

237. Paro halle budta sandi gondi hud tu rUp did not look in thickets rav ine he looked

Hallo bange diso sedal waya latur sardige wator

N o t anything appeared old man to com“ began near road he came

rapo soditor kisunigeinto midst of field he entered near fire

u chi u chi techi t echi deisi deisi kude

(Sometimes sit ting sit ting s tanding standing jumping jumping rolling

kudsi yendi laturrolling t o dance he began

240. Pata wari latur din pasit hona sedo sakadeneA song to sing began day dawned his old woman in themorning

konj 1 laturto hear began

2 41 K enstu mawa padkat heke oiwake waya nekintaShe heard her towards fields a fine music

242 . Tanwa padkata walumunige han31 niltu tanwa kowdeO f her fields near the hedge hav ing come with her ears music

243. 1du sedo bang kita tanwar sedan hike muedon nikeThat old woman what did to her old man her husband

244. K eik sahachi yenda latur kalk tahachi yenda latur wadelHands stretching ou t to dance began feet t o dance began nook

wadsi yenda latur

245. Sedan hike sedo huda latu sedal nawar

The old man towards the old woman to see began old man my

246. V enku idu waja bakota lagta v enleka ana yendaka idnaTo him that mu sic melodiou s was like him I will dance ( said) that

247. K u skane soga tandta dhangunkita

Quickly the folded end of her dress drew ou t (and) hav ing mad e free

walumunigetalnear the hedge

248. V eru Lingal tanwa pite bang wadkintor ana satodhariThat Lingo in his belly what speaks (as) I am dev out

Lingal aika penpariyor Lingana aikaLingo I will be God

s serv ant Lingo will be

249. Dakate dhangun matate kupan nikun manduI wear down to heel the fo ld of dhote on head a knot t ome is

bomali hira kupade tira yetun dagon the nav el diamond on forehead tika water stain

2 50. N akun dag halle ana Lingana aika sedal sedo‘

n diwaditaTo me stain not I Lingo will be old man to old woman Diwali;

dandhardance in dandar

2 51 . K oitona sar bisuka pata warneka v erkun yenchuskaOf Gonds in rows will held song I will cau se to sing them I will cau se to danceana LinganaI Lingo

252 . Weru Lingal sewakintor tanwa pendan B udhal pentas parorThat Lingo worshipped his god B u dhal god’

s name

mudtur Adal pentas parorbe inv oked Adal god ’

s name

2 53. Sola satikna paror mudtur attara'

khankna paror madbu rSixteen satis name inv oked eighteen fl ags name inv oked

Manko Rayetal Jungo Rayetal Pharsipenda paror mudtu rManko Rayetal Jungo Rayetal Pharsipenda

s name inv oked

2 54. Sewa sewa itur idu jantu r ta parin paharana keide bitu rSalu tation said that guitar (of) v ariou s tunes in hands held

255. N awu jant arta iv en mohani ar tu ihun indur bornMy guitar this is an allurement that has fallen so said who

Lingal bade jantartun kameke kiya laturLingo that guitar silent to make began

256. Laknal parodal mama sewa itu r v eru B ikad GawadiFrom afar from on high uncle salu tation said to that B ikad Gawadi

2 57. Madata sendatparo huda latu r sewa bhasa

(Of) trees (on) top t o see b egan salutation nephew

258. Ihun itu r bhalo makun ime darasti bhasha yendu stiSo said well me thou hast deceiv ed 0nephew thou hast cau sed to dance

bhasha bendal beke wati0nephew whence to whither has t thou come

2 59. Bhasha ime wada bheting yetkat horn Lingal maditalO nephew thou hast come (let u s ) embrace each other that Lingo from the tree

ragi latert o d escend began

2 60. Sedena hanJikun keiye bitu r mama sewa u tu r horknaO ld man

s after going hand caught 0 uncle salutation said their

bheting atungmeeting took place

261 . Bhashal werke mamal warke matu r

Nephew known uncle known became

bhashan

(to ) nephew

2 62 . V erkna randate jankna bheting atung mamana kie bhashalThose two persons meeting took place uncle's hand nephew

274. Hav en wo rn hav enige kandku dohachi Sike v eru

Them take away their eyes hav ing tied tho u shalt giv e them

2 75 . Lingal itur agatal lattur munne niltur hantorom m’

thence arose before stood I am going uncle

2 76 . Ihun nawa sewa yena mama itur agatal Lingal pasitarSo my salu tation receiv e thou uncle said he thence Lingo went

sedanang . miyakna rota sariye handa lat urold man

s daughters house Way t o go began

277. HanJ1kun hav ena darwajate niltu r v eru Lingal bara warshanaHav ing gone in their door st ood that Lingo of twelv e years

jani disi latua you th to seem began

278. Sola warshana umbar dista munnetal hudneke marathaSixteen years (of) age he appeared in front when seen foppish

riyon leka distor

young man like appeared

279. Fajatal hudneke bamna riyon leka oiwake riyor distorB ehind hav ing seen B rahmin dev ou t like good serv ant appeared

280. Rot rapodal selak yod ung bahero pasitung v enku maniThe hou se from within d et ers sev en ou t came those regarded

281 . Riyanleha awn watung baharo Lingal munne nitungAs a young man they came ou t Lingo before stood

2 82 . MakunU s

selak puse kindung ime boni andisisters to ask began thou who art

2 83. Horu bangu wadka latur niwor babo nawor

He what to say began thy father (is)my

miwa awal mawa ato

thy mother my aunt

2841. Ana satodhari Lingana andan pen pariyor Lingana andanI am dev out Lingo am G od

s ser v ant Lingo I

285. N awang palong konjat ho bai nawa tiru miwa rot igeMy words 0 sister my arrow t oyour hou se

wasi arta ana nanegatal hudintonacame and fell 1 am from a long time searching it

286 . N aw ork nalu rk tamnrk dongu de attork ana

My fou r brothers in j ungle sat Ikhanding mawaku j ak tonah

s cores of rohia hav e kil led

287. Anu de donguda artang hav enege nawor tamurk u t torkThey also in jungle fell near them my brothers are sat

288. Ana kisunsate watona hikene nakun walle u shir atu

I for fire hav e come here t o me much d elay b ecame

289. Hake nawork tamu rk sari hudseke mandanu rk horkunThere my brothers way expecting maybe to them

karu wasi mandalhunger felt may be

290. Yer watksi bagada yer hagoda sodi horkunFor wat er theymaybe thirsty of what place water where bread they will

291 . 1hun wadki lator Lingal v enku bangu wadki latangSo to Speak began Lingo t o him What to speak began

yed nng selaksev en sisters

292 . K enja mawa palo dada ime marine amot

Hear ou r word 0 brother thou son thou art and we

miyaknem andomdaughters w e are

293. N iwa m awa eiwake nato manda niku bagaYou r and o ur good relationship is you how

294. Amot niwatoda naiakom imet watoke ana badtun halleWe along with you will come you come thou wherefore not

295. Payana matkete lakon saware mamtu munne amtuC ome (if) you come (then) qu ickly ready be forward be

saribimtu ihun itu r boru Lingalway take so said who Lingo

296. Iwu tamwa toranang gindang muchanang dikringThese of their beds the clothes for cov ering heads (and) garments

bitung Lingana tir hona hon-kun sisit ook Lingo ’

s arrow they to him gav e

297. Munne munne Lingal pa aye pajaya riyang hauda latungB efore before Lingo e ind behind young women t o go began

298 . Tamu rk matork uchimatork hakens hudundurk baske wanurWhere brothers were seated there theyWer

.e looking when will he come

299. Lingan waneke laknal hudturk kenjatro dada maworLingo coming from afar they beheld hear O brother our

Lingan leka distorLingo like appears

300. Techi'

nilfu rk huda laturk munne Lingal pajaye yedang j am/k

Hav ing risen to see began before Lingo behind sev en persons

301 . K enjatro dada bonangte miyak bonangte kodiyak maworHear O brother whose daughters whose daughters-in-law our

Lingal artiLingo hav ing taken

302 . W'

antor hudat dada eiwake distang riyang mandangI s coming look 0 brothers of good appearance young women are

Siyur Lingal amo t baikok kiyerat dada ihun(If) Lingo wou ld giv e ( then) we wiv es wou ld make of them 0brothers so

indur horku na lurk tamu rksaid who four brothers

304. V er Lingal kachu l watu r yiltur mawa palo kenJ'

atro dadaThat Lingo near came s to od my w ord hear O bro ther

305 . Yedung janik mamana miyak iw u watangSev en persons uncles daught ers these hav e come

306. 1winsati surmg

tandat iwu mawkna tadaking simtTo them kniv es bring ou t of these robis liv ers giv e

307. V erku su ring tand turk mawknang pir w ohatu rk tadakingThey kniv es took ou t of rohis belly ripped (split ) liv ers

tantu rk bore tatu r kachara kisu pa tu s tu rktook ou t some brought faggots fire enkind led

808. K itu rk tana ubara khandk hav en bods tu rk tamu rk ne liO n it s blaze flesh they roas t ed took ou t (and) down

309. Idu tadaki per ta parode idurkateThis Iiv er in G od

s nam e offer

310. 1hun itu rk horku nalurk tamurk Lingal te tt ur

So said who fou r brothers Lingo arose

31 1 . Tinda latu rk sabe tintork LingalTo eat theybegan all ate Lingo

312 . Lokor handa sim t hav en bav en yedang selak un a v enor babo

Qu ickly to go allow them the s ev en sis ters their father

ranganu r wallenean abus e will giv e

Ihu n itu r born Lingal imet nawa kamneSo Sd ld who Lingo ( if) you t o my , u se they

wayanungW 111 c ome

326 . B adeka nawang tangek aianung imet padhork manturit anaWho t o me a sis cei -iu -law W IH be you eldes t are I amchidu r

younger

N akun yer sianung yetkan sade nakun tarsi sianungMe wat er they W111 giv e I will take bread for m e bed they w ill spread

328 . Ana narmika nakun yer mihatanungkikan dhadotang sukan l1ugI will sleep me water they will giv e t o bathe clothes theywill wash

329. N akun tangek wanung awakunleka disanungTo me sis ters -in-law theywill be like mo ther theyW111 appear

330. Ihun itu r Lingal ahun awak inake nalu rkna tamu rknaSo said Lingo when mother he called them from fou r brothers

dilta pappasisi hatumind sin d eparted

331 . H onige handa lat u rk hon pu si kiyalaturk kenja ro LingalTo him t o go they began to him ask began hear O Lingolokor mawang madmingquickly ou r marriage d o

332 . K intoni sim yedang janik mantang amot nalurk mantoram

( lf) thou Wish (then) giv e sev en persons they are we four are

333. Apalo s palo baikokki sim Lingal(To) each one their Wiv es dis t ribute O Lingo

3343. Lingal bang intor imat padhork reball rehaku k im tuLingo what says you are elder one two two marry (he who)youngest

manton hon unde simtuis him one giv e

335 . I turk Lingal unde nawa palo kej at ro dada igeSaid Lingo the my word hear O brother in t his

dongudejungle

336. Chipadite baga kintirit apalota K achikopa LahugadIn the plain how can you d o it our K achikopa Lahugad

337. N ar manda aga iv en wokat aga madming kikal igeTown is there to them we will take there marriage Will do here

halle k iwanot do

Ihun itur Lingal hona kenchikun abune kitu rk agatal positurkSo said Lingo they hav ing heard so did thence d eparted

339. B orku seiu 1 kte tamu rk awa yednngte selak agatal pasitungThe s e the fi v e bro thers thos e sev en sis ters thence d epar tedw aya latung herk unde

mu nne t ak into rk paj ayet o go b egan they and in front theywalked (the Wom en) behind

awuw antangfollowed

340. A-hune tanw a nate watu rk K achikopa Lahugad rapoSo t o their v illage they cam e Kach ikopa Lahugad of

madmina sama kiya la tu rkmarriage preparation to make began

341 . Ige halle manyalk halle baikok Lingal yerHere there are no men no w omen Lingo wat er

342 . Tat intor hore yerkasu sint or ho re pichi watiekintorB rings he bathes hav ing boiled he t urmeric pounded

343. Manda dasint or toren doh tintonB ower h e erect ed leaf garland he t ied

344. N alu rk tamu rkun koitur hike hake pichiThe four bro thers he called here t here turmeric powder

345 . N alu rk tamu rknn yedungte selaknn pichi soktungTo fou r bro thers t o sev en s is t ers t u rmeric he applied

346 . Madming latu ng nawa palo kenj at ro dada warsan

Marriage canno t be my word bear. 0 brothers all at once

347. Undi madming kikat waye janik mandnung dhandoO ne mar riage we W111 d o the rest remaining work

k lyanungW111 d o

348. U sade av enang madm ing ayamm g t ehawn dhando kiyanungThen their marriage W111 be those ( remaining) w ork 11 ill d o

349. B arenang munene madming ayanang awn u sado dhando

(Th ose) w ho se at first marriages shal l be th ey then w ork

k iyanu ngW 111 d o

350. 1hu n itu r boru Lingal il ende nalu rk te tamu rk itu rk ingeSo said Who Lingo then four b ro ti ers said yes

dada abune kikatO b rother so do

35 1 .

Ahun kinake madming atung bange diyang at ung padhorSo doing marriage finished som e d ays passed eldes t

tamu intor nawa palo kenj at dada o

brother says my word hear O bro ther

352 . Apalot or Lingal apalotor eiwake kito r ‘ madminf

g kisitu rO ur Lingo ou r good did marriage did

apalotang baikok apalo tige

ou r Wi v es t o our place

353. Linga1 b in baikonor Lingal v en haiko halle kenjat ro

Lingo With ou t a wiEe ( is) Lingo t o him wife not hear 0

dada apalota bhalo k itu r t anwa, halle kitab rother ou r good d 1d his no t did

354. Tenka bagane watawa apalotor babon leka v eru atu r boruHim

.anywhere throw no t ou r father like he became who

LingalLingo

355 . Dongude daikat sikar J ikat pu ngak tatakat Lingal akade

(To) j ungle w e W 111 g’

o game will kill flowers w e will bring Lingo in a swing

udar dadawill sit O brother

356. Ihun indu rk nalu rk t amu rkSo said four brothers

357. U kade u ttu r Lingal yedung selak ukad uhtintaIn a swing sat Lingo sev en sisters the swing swung

358 . N alu rk tamu rk tawang tir kamtang bisikun dongudeFou r brothers their arrow and bow s hav ing held in j unglehatu rkwent

359. Paja bang uata yedang selak tamwa pite' bang wadkintang

After What happened sev en sist er s in their belly What said

kinj at hobai v er Lingalhear 0 sisters this Lingo

360. Mawor sherandu andur v ena amot tangek , andomO ur hu sband

s young brother is to him we sis t eu nlaws are

v enu kawale awJintawith him spor t can be

36 1 . K ei bise imale aWJm ta wadkale . aWJinta .

His hand byholding pu ll w e can to speak he can

362 . Yer Lingal m atoda kawor matoda wadkor mahake hudorThat Lingo W i th u s ch es not laugh d oes no t speak t oward us look no t

kank pchachi s 1 to r

eyes he has clos ed

363. K awanu r m aw atoda garsanu r ihun :

(Bu t ) he must laugh with u s m us t play so

364. Bade bita kei bade bita kal bisik’

un umalatang v er' Lingal

Some held hand som e held feet hav mg caught pulled him that Lingo

adike kanka pihachisitormore eyes closed

380. Yedung j anike yedo ng j agangneh hanJikunSev en sis ters in sev en plac es hav ing gone

Lingal u kadeLingo in a swing

381 . 1hun kinake du pardin tark ta wayana v elo ait a nalu rkSo doing it was noon the coming time it was (of) fou rtamu rknabrothers

382 . B ore jakt or kursu bore j aktor malor bore jakt orSome k illed she ant elope some killed a boar s ome killed

383. B ore heitor u rum bore pungar kweitorSome held quail some flower had plu cked

Hagatal handa laturk rota sari bitu rk t amwa rachadeThence to go began house road to ok t o their compoundwaturk talanang waj enk rehachi ir t urk da v itro dadacame o f head bu rdens d own kept let u s go 0 brothers

intorksaid they

385. Pungak sikat sari hudsike mandanur v erku nalu rkteFlower we will giv e way b e expecting may be those fourtamu rk r ot rapo soditu rkb rothers in the h ou se ent ered

386 . U kadige hangi niltu rk Lingaa h udt u rk Lingal narumtorN ear a swing going stood t o Lingo saw Lingo was sleeping

387. B ade diso k enjatro dada Lingal m antor naru in tor apalo tangNone appears hear O brother Lingal is slept ou r

baik ok halle d isongwiv es do not appear

388 . H av ekun hu ndakat u sado Lingal tehakat agatal poj paThem w e Will s ear ch then Lingo we W i ll awake thenc e th ey retu rned

389. Apalo apalo k on tana handa latu rk hanj ikun hada

To their own ro om : t o go b egan ha v ing gone t o see

lat urkbegan

narum tang yadki w atap ku the mantangare slept as if fear had c ome panting

pusikiya lat urkt o ask began

391 . B adi‘

narumt orit Lingana ukad uhav it mawa palo kenj atWhy hast thou slept Lingo are not swinging our word ,

392 . Hor Lingal miwor tamu bachojel amot makuskomThat Lingo your brother

s (acts) how long '

we mayhide

393.Imet donguda sirkartum hantorit paja Lingal mawangYou to jungle for hunting t o go (allows) behind Lingo our

yat ye tintorshame takes

394. Bachaj el pite daskom ital buddhi vena LinganaHow long in belly shall we keep such the conduct of this Lingomanta nendom daskomis till to day we hav e kept

395. Inga amot halle kenjanal amot mawor babona nateN ow we will not hear we to our fathers

handakom

396 . Amot halle rehemayom undi baikon rehall muedorkWe no t will remain for one wife two husbands

baitun pahij iwhy should be

397. Tamu rk wadki latork v er Lingan munnene indalB rethren to Speak began that Lingo formerly told us

398. Aga ycdung selak manda e v enrapodal aclnkun imeThere sev en sisters are amongst them hav ing chosen one you

mnnnene baiko kimbefore us wife make

399. Pissanung hon hav en amot kikom v er Lingal indurThose who shall remain them we willmarry that Lingo said

400. N awang selak andung nawang~awak andung

Uur sis ters theyare our mothers theyare

401 . Indur papi Lingal dushte Lingal karam chandali LingallSaid sinner Lingo wicked Lingo of bad conduct

Sikarita parode nade k ikatOf hunting in the name deceiv ed us

403. Dongude woikal v enku j aksi walkatIn jungle we will take away him hav ing killed we will throwkadku tandakateyes will pu ll ou t

N end dom kursana sikar 31ndom maloda sikar JindomTo-day till antelope we h i v e killed of bare a prey killed

405 . Lingana sikar Jikom honang kadka tansikumLingo

s hunting will do his eyes hav ing taken out

406. G oling garsakom aske sodi tinkom yeru undakomwill play then bread will e

at water we will drink

Hanfhknn Linganige nilturk itendaro Lingaitedaro cdada tB owing gone t o Lingo theystood ris e b rother

chidot et he youngest

408. B adi dada tata halev it punga xmalsi watitW’

hy b rother you hav e not b ought flower whyh av eyou come back

achor te dinu handaso great a part~of the day is set

409. B ate Janwar andu badeuk h ainake Jintorom hadu are

Whatev er animal it migh t be t o it howev er we s trike it d oes no t fall

410. Halle sodigo hagane amo t Jlneke dorsi batomN ot fl ee there we byst riking

41 1 . Lingal ukadal tettu r u ttur tamu rkun h ike hudturLingo from a swing arose (and) sat brothers th ere look

H adu janwartun Jnakan ihun‘

tar L ingalThat animal 1 will kill so said L ingo

413. Aga'

;al tit turk rotal pasitu rk dav itro dada baga mantaThence arose from home w ent come 0brothers where is it

414. Mnnne Lingal pajay‘

e‘nalurk dongude lat u rk fdongnde

B efore Lingo behind four to j ung le to go began the junglesari ‘bitu rk

415 . Pedha j at mata korite hatu rk mada hudintorkLarge kind was it ( v iz. the animal) as theywent trees theysearched

jadi lbudintovk

grass searched

416 . Lingal b angu wadkintor kenjatro dada nawangLingo w hat s ays hear 0 brothers myhat u te hani hatteif ‘it h as gone let it g o

L ingal sarekata madat sid hanykunLing .) the Char t ree below hav ing gone

nalurkte dada iturkfou r brothers said

U da Lingo yer‘tatin

terom habadi a turkSit O Lingo water we will bring yonder went

419. Madakun adam‘

aturk U kesaral bangu wadki lator kenjatro'

O i t ree t o the side came what t o ’ssy began

dada eiwake Lingal dhadm'

ite u tor

0brother good Lingo in shade sat

420. 1de wakht manta nalurk te tamu rk nalung as; tandat su

tiThis the time is four brothers four

arrows t ook and

kiturk

é rku"k fidk

ntu rk undi kad kha lwa irtnrk undiTh e s e eyes brought ou t one eye side kep t on one

km] paringone eye on another (side)

437. Tamu rk u chi hork onigi situr k eida. bo tateThe b ro the rs sat down near them gav e (in) hands fingerlllt ll l'ktheyhe ld

Hagat al golitleka Ji tur Jineke v erk un hikekhalwaThence marble like (w ill) s t rike while st riking to their

wa tu golina garsmud v c rkna laghu undi gatkacame the marble game their lasted one hour

P A R T I I I .

The reviv al of L ingo,and his deliv eryof the G onds from bondage.

l . B ang pendun kimadWhat god did (now)

‘2 . Rayetan kimad Pharsipentun kimad bang atu parodipnedid did what happened in the upper worlds‘

3. Sebbe penkna u chu kacheri Sn I sranaAll minor div init ies hav ing sat in the court of god

Horn bangu wadki lator kenjatro gadyalknit kenj atro baduThey what began t o say h ear 0 friendsDipne mu rda ar ta

World (has this) dead body fallen

5 . Hona koju kimtu bor andu rHis t race will d o who mayhe be

6 . Seiyung akina V ida kitu r rishirk munne wadturFiv e . leav es bida he made of rushis in front h e threw

7. Hud’

atu hudi ikun nahaga wadata nabaga v eha ihun iturHav ing seen him near me come (and) me t ell so said he

8 . V ida rishi halle tahatorkB ida the rishis not lifted

CD Usado siri isral hainake risne wator ranga latorThen to god mu ch anger came to reproach began

10. Siri I sral '

tet tur thalite yer keyu stu r kei kal nortu

God arose in a po t water called hands and fee t washed

l l . Mendoda machu tantu r t ana kawal kitu r tanrapo amrit(From his ) body dirt he t ook (of) it crow he made on him ambr osia

wad tu rsprmkled

1 2 . Sajj iv kitur K agesu r paror irtu'

r heide bitur tankuMad e it aliv e the name of K agesu r he kept in hand he held it

13. Wadkintor Siri I sral bandaki dongude matan rupo karitrap oSays G od go in Jungle between hills glens

samtinrapo j oditrupo yetrapo hududiv alleys in riv ers in wat er shalt thou look

1 4. Agatal kawal handn latu parodipne walita latuThence crow to go began in the upper world to roam began

15. Halle bagane diso hagatal sidtadipne watu haga huda latuDid not anywhere see thence in the lower worl

qd came there

to look began

16. K achikopa Lohugad“

adena dongude wasikum hudu latuof its jungle hav ing come to look began

matane koritein

the hilly v alleys

17. N aju r batu kakadang distn agatal kawal tet tuSight fell twigs appeared thence crow arose

hanj ikun kakadanige u ttu kakadanrapo hudu la’

ttuhav ing gone near twigs sat under twigs to search b egan

1 8. Lingal ar tor'

burotaye dis tu r houku kadk halle honuLingo was fallen bad he appeared t o him eyes were not his

talla wo t ta distn p l rn w orta dis tn paduk pasitanghead burst appeared belly int estines come ou t

K awal hudtu agatal kawal tettu tuda latu waya latuCrow looked thence crow went t o fly began to c ome began

parodipnein the u pper Wor ld

20. Siri I srana keitparo wasikun u t tu v eru Siri I sral pu si kiturG od

s on hands hav ing come sat‘that G od to ask began

baga manta kharoue v ehawhere (and) what is t ru ly tell

2 1. U sade Kachikopa Lahugad hadena dongude watan hagaThen in its j ungle I came there

hudtan waror manyal korit rapo artor

I searched one man in a cav e is fallen

22. Siri I sral tanwa pite kemekena atur samje matur

G od in his belly became silent (and ) unders tood

23. Hade dongude pahindi pungar mada mata LingaiI n that j ungle Pahindi fl ower

s tree was (where) LingalJomne masiw as born

24. Askedal wata halleSince t hen came not

25. B otu tal amrit tantui” keitnr K urtao Subal honku v ehaturO ut of his finger ambrosia t ook ou t he called to hlm said

26 . Ime idu honu am rit woma todakeparo pitparo watak inYou this t o him ambrosia t ake on his liv er on the belly sprinkletallatparo watakinon the head sprinkle

27. Munne kawal paja K u t tao Subal handa laturk K achikopa

In fr ont 1 crow behind t o go began to

Lahugadta

42 . Lingo. handa laturk d u sara saryeLinga t o go began another way

43. Linga hatu r u ndi mata wau ntu u nd i mata turgintonLinga w ent one mountain passing one mountain as cending

dongu de handu lator haneke din mu lituin j ungle to go began then day was set

V ern Lingo bangu wadktur inga dinu'

hatu ige reheThat Lingo what sald now day is set here stay

mayka waronayeI will alone

B enke chital wayah nakun tindal benkeFrom s omewhere t iger will come me fr om somewhere

yadj al wayal nak tindalb ear will come m e will eat

46. V ern pedhajat niru ra mada aden hudtu rThat large niro or t ree t o it he w en t

47. Tanparo tu rktu r shendu te aga din mulitThereupon he climbed t o the t op then day set

48. Dongur gogo ting ku sintang m ulk tahosintang ku rskWild cocks crowed peacocks cried

chamrke mantangwere

49. Yedsku gume mantang kolyalk kolla k intang dongu rB ears wag ged their heads jackals a yell made jungle

rat a ta Lingo bangu wadkintornight pas sed Lingo what

j ango mamal pasitormoon is up

sukkuk pasitang v erkh n pu si kiku nawa

star s appearing t o them ask I Will about

52. Mund pabark atu gogoti ku ste eAt the third watch of night cock crowed

sukkum pasitor lal abhar atu din pasitustar appeared red sky became day appeared

54. V ern Lingo madatal rutur v ichike handu laturThat L ingo from t ree came down running to

go began

dintunige hunj ikun sewa kitu rtowards the sun hav ing gone salu tation made

55. V ebatu nawa s cla 5kadang koitnrk 1haga inantorkTell my sixteen gscores “

of G onds where are

56 . K enja L inga .hanate .siri israna chakari kiritona nailingHear Lingo I of god

3 serv ice four

pahark tak 111 tonawatches I vtrav el on

57. Distn halleI saw ( them) not

58 . Agatal L ingo Jango maman ige watwiThence rLingo

moon runele it o came

f Sewa 1kit11r 1 11 an ..pu sirkitur imama n awangSalutation amade

60 Sola 1kadang 1koitorkun budei 1kenja jango mandakiSixteen s cores 0moon if you hav e

nakun v ehatato me : t ell

61 . K enJa Lingo anate takint ona(Hear Lingo

pasinta aske udintona siri israna chakariUntil t hen I sit ( in) god

s serv ice

62. N akun malum halleTo me known not

63. Agatal handa lator v er Lingo karyal kumaitunigeFrom then to go began that Lingo t o black

64. Hanj ikun sewa itor pusikitor nawang sola kadang koitorkAfter going salut ation made asked my“

sixteen scores of Gond:

baga mantorkwhere are

65. K enja sabbena paror mu ta koitorkna paror mutmaHear of all the names mention of G onds

names do not mentio

6 6. Gadhana jat koitona barabar mandaTo asses

caste ~Gonds equal

67. B ilal uncle tintork yalli unde t intork ghu si uncle tintorkCats also theyeat mice also they eat bandicoots also they eat

68. Padi 11nde tintork mudatang yedmitang . .tintork italPigs also they eat cow

s flesh buffaloes theyeat Buck

buratai mantorkhad t heyare

69. Horkunigerk nakun barkur pusiAbout them me why you

70. Dh'

awalagiri Parwat Jumnagiri tirith

71 . Haga Mahadewa manda hom Sabbe kottorkun bisikunThere Mahadeo is be all Gonds canght (hav ing)

72 . Yaditrapo muchi sitor sola ku tang tongi tana todtparoIn a cav e

shu t did sixteen cubits stone on its mouth

darwaj ate much1 s 1 tu

doo r cov ered

73. B asmasu r Deituna pahara irtu deitur kepintar

74. Lingo agatal 1positur taka latur amte unde takintu narkaLingo from there star ted to walk began day and he walked night

75. Tap kitar bara mahinang atung vena tapu nintuDev otion made twelv e months passed when d ev otion was completed

76. Mahadewa undana sonota chowrang dagmage mu ta

Mahadeo’

s sit ting golden stool t o shake began

Mahadewa indur nawa Dhawalagirat paro born Ristu wator

Mahadeo said my Dh;m at-agiri on what Dev otee has come

ige tap kitu nawa parohere dev otion made me upon

78. Waje kitu ihun itar MahadewaLoad he pu t thus said Mahadeo

79. Handa latur huda latu r maka laturTo go began to see began to wonder began

80. L ingan kachul hatu rk lake nilturk hagatal hudturkLingo towards went after stood from there new

verte Lingahe was Lingo

Halle kei maluyor halle kal tahator kadkne hudor

Do not hand shake d o not feet lift up with eye do not see

flesh was dry bones remaining thus Lingo thorns

nasumtuwas asleep

83. Mahadewa bangu wadkilatur

84. Ime t aluka bang talukiya bang indaki haile sika

You ask what ask what you wishlthat

"I will giv e

85. V er Linga bang int erThis Lingo what say

98. M awa Dhawalagirita s atwo bude mayalfMy Dhawalagiri

s purity ‘lost will be

99. Hona kenj tur Mahadewa kenja N arayan undi paloteHis (Word) heard Mahadeo h r ar 0 N arayan gwy word

ana sisiI hav e giv en

100. Chuktam nawaipe dusaro halle[I e rred mear me {another 1here is not

101 . N arayan bang intorN arayan what said

102. K enja Linga mawa punj atun kaéml Bindo (pitetapfg“

Hear iLingo foamychiwak ime arikun

yo ung ones for me bring

Usado nawork okoitorkun womuAfter that ‘ from me the G onds take away

104. Lingo yontur daryawun kachu l hatu r aga hfi

udintor bekeiLingo r eached the sea near i

‘went there . he saw

heke yer distaand there water was v isible

105 . I na kudkate karyal'

. B indo pitetung chiwakuOf that sea-shore black .B indo the lbircls young ones

admanasalkmale and female

106 . Randute dongude batung

B oth to j ungle had gone

107. Aada pite batal mandu yenin j akund tanangThat bird how Was elephant killing of that (elephant)kadun t indu talla -wobtund t ana .maddurthe eyes theyate the head breaking of that brain

108. Chiwakun ta tund piteta yedung khopka yetrapodaFor young ones they brought of this bird sev en bro ods

dBbowarnag~manda “tarasu v idu ~tinJ1 mata

B howarnag was snake he eaten g‘hdd

kachul haturnear went

1 10. Chiwakuu hudtnr bang wedkintorThe young ones seeing what (he) said

1 1 1 . Paja woyakan nakun kalie indanurk

al th absence,if

_I take (the young ones me a thief theywill pail

1 12 . Horkuu munne woyakan ana L ingana ailgan

In their presence if I take them away I Linga will ’be

1 13. Chiwakun kachul narumtur hainakiTheyoung ones near he slept with comfort

1 14. I tumna kodtleka tarasa t osu ro distnN ame t runk like snake thick appeared

Setitichor tana phadi kitu idu BhowarnagLike basket (for winnowing corn) his hood was this Bhowarnag

tarasu yetropodal chiwak tendale waya latursnake fi om water the young ones t o eat t o come began

1 16. Iwu chiwak torasun hudtung hainake wuritung adaThese young ones the snake seeing much . were t errified t e ety

latungbegan

1 17 Lingubhan parekatal tit tantur kamtatun jodi kuturLingo from his back arrow took fixedtiru

the arrow

1 18. Jitu r t il rasna yedang khandang kitu rShot the snake sev en pieces he made

yedungte khandangall sev en pieces

1 19. Mahachi tuttur talla wada v itur aden paraCarried and brought (of) his head on the side he kept at

muchi siturcov ered

120. U sade "

dongudal kuryal B indo radu te admunsaolkThen from the jungle black B indo both male and female

12 1 . B ade j akta bu tum bange jak tork yening hadena konkuSome theykil led camels some theykilled elephant some eyes

bitork yenotanggot of elephant

12 2 . lhun chiwakan sati ebaro arikan waya latungThese young ones for food taking coniing began

Iwu cbiwaku charo t inongThese young ones food will not eat

124. Usado bangu wadku latung bodu ku riyal B indo pitte tauwor

Then what t o sea, b egan female black B indo

s bird to her

mu edon bangu int ahe .oues what said

12 5. Yedung yeiku atungSeven times I got

126. Ana tongu wangu yedmilekaI am now withou t (young ones) buffalo like

127. Ana chawa wale disuka ihun itan u sado nawang chiwanglike mother of child will look thus s l id again (on).my young om

hatita diti lagtawhat ev il eye has fallen

Iwu timung halleThese eat do not

129. Tanor muns ur neli hudtur pandri distu Linga narnmsiHer he one aligh ted (and) looked white appear ed Lingo sleepinghonthis

Hudin kenja ho mawang chiwak tenal halle neli hu daSaw hear these our young ones eat do not below

131 . Mantor hontu j aksi wata hona tullada madur tansiThere is him kill of his head brain take out

132 . mawang chiwaka charo tindanungO ur young ones food for eating (W111 be)

133. Chiwaka kenchikun bangu w’

adkintangThe young ones hearing what they said

134. Makun ime charo tatan amot bahun tindakom imetFor us you food hav e brought we how eat 0 you father

ime awal mawor andit

you mother of us are

135. Makun wadsikun dongude banditUs leav ing to jungle you go

boru rehe mandurwho remains

136 . Makun boru kepandurU s who will guard

137. Idu yetrapodal Bhowarnag makun tindale wanduThis aquatic Bhowarnag t o eat was coming

138 . Horu manwal mator mawa j iv a pistu met hudtitThat man was here our life was sav ed you saw

139. Ponko tindale dosat horu tindanur u sado amot tindakomHim to eat giv e he eats after

156. N awang chiwakna paror halle matniMy young ones name do not mention

157. Usado bangu wadki latur LingalThen what t o say began Lingo

1 58. Haga Mahadewa mantor hona najade hudansatiThere Mahadeo is for him with eyes to lookchiwakun wontons

young ones I will take

159. Usada bangu wadkinta kuryal B indo pitteThen what said black Bindo

160. K enja Linga Mahadewa keitor amot wayakomHear Lingo ( if) Mahadeo calls we will go

161 . Undo khato pakal paro tanwa randute chiwakun upustaO ne side of wing on their both young ones

undi khaku Linga upustaon one side Lingo made to sit

162. Usado karyal B indo pittetor mansur wadkintorThen black B indo bird

kenja Lingaheal" Lingo

163. Ana bartun mandaka mikun hainake yaddi lagalI for what will remain you much sun will feel

164. Ihun itur noli modi tudintu paroThu s said from below the female fl ew up

1 65. Tanor mansur dhadim kitur'

daryawan igetal tudashelter making towards the sea thence to fly

166. Sarung mehinana sarimata iwu pitteng sakadene pasitangSix month s

road was this bird earlyin the morning started

1 67. Dupar ayo te wasikun Mahadewata rachede reitung

Mid -day t ill they fl ew of Mahadeo in the cou rt theyalighted

168. Duadal hudtur N arayan v ichike hanykun MabadewatigeFrom door seeing N arain ran and going Mahadeov ehata laturt o show began

169. K enja N abadewa v er Lingo karyal B indo pet ten ariHear Mahadeo this Lingo black B indo bird has brought

1 70. U sade Mahadewa bangu wadki lator kenja N arayan

Then Mahadeo what t o say began hear N arain

171 . Anate wadkandan anate v ehandan ime ha lle v erhorte Lingo1

172 . Tatanur suti kinar halle

Will bring leav e will not

173. U sade mahadewa wadktur kenja Lingo niwang sola kadangThen mahadeo said hear Lingo your sixteen scores

koitorkunof Gond s

174. Womu sitan hanu LingalTake I hav e giv en and go Lingo

175 . Mahadewatun sewa kitur yadit karun hatur PhursipendaTo mahadeo salutation he made near the he went

1 76 . Mutatur Rayetana p aror mu tatur basmasur deituro habadiHe t ook of Rayetan god

s name he took basmasur

kiturmade to go

1 77. Sola katang tangi chira tachikun hahadi irtur tamv angSixteen cubits of stone piece kept his

178. K oitu rkuro bahers tantur horku koiturkun hudtur v erkuGonds those Gonds saw him these

koitork bange wadkintorGonds what said

179. K enja Lingo mawor bore halle makun veru mahad ewaHear Lingo we hav e one to us this

180. Gahokna pindi bone situr janana. pindiOf wheat flour to some gave of millet flour

1 81 . B ou‘

e situr paryokTo some he gav e rice

182. Yadite aturk atu laturk bonakoTo riv er went to cook began some

1 83. K ondi ku si mator muwa Jiwata hotal solu kiturWhat he had kept them our

184. U sade Linga bangu wadkintor .

Then Linga what

1 85. 1met yadite datu imet atatu tintu u sade wadkakel '

You in riv er come you cook and eat than

P AR T I V .

subdivision of the Gonds into tribes, and the institutton of the worship0] the Gond gods .

rotang kitur kusari(hav ing) kneeded thick cake made cooked

koitorkna atmad atu

Gond’

s sou ls satisfied

abhal tettu piru ara laturain to fall began

3. Joditun u sa waya lata sebbe koitorkTo a riv er flood to come began all G onds

bangu Wadki

4. Linga hainake pio

r tet ta palang p irurintaO Lingo mu ch rain rose up

5. V erku koitork handa laturk sabbe koitork joditrapo handaThose Go nds

to go began all Gonds in middle of,riv er to go

6. B orkuh rapadork nalung koitork Lingan toda rahe matu rkThem amongst fou r G onds Lingo with remained

7. Hotu Lingal hudtur bangu wadki later kinjafs~

dadaThat Lingo saw what to speak began hear O brother

8. Joditur u sa wata apalo had khak bahur handakatTo riv er flood came w e that side how we shall go

9. Adhike abha‘

l watu andhar atuMore clouds came darkness became

10. V erka nalurkte jank Lingal bang wadkintor

(To) those four persons Lingo what speaks

1 1 . K injat dada bahun kikat bahun handakat din hantaHear brother how we will do how we will go day is going

12 . Dame kasuwal Puse magral yetrupo garsiki

13. Waya latung v irkunkachul yetropodal wadka latungTo come they began to them

- V erku '

ada laturk’

usado ikaswal bangu wadkint a‘

kinjaSpoke hear

26. 1me kai simu borkun nawa parikat paro umsi yenaYou hand giv e to them my back on

27. Lingal' kei situr "'

nalurkunte bitur umsi yetur kas’

vanaLingo hand gav e to the hint caught dragged from water tortoise

parikate upu sturon back caused to sit

28. 1du kaso rechachi situ . tana parekate nu lurkte jankto four persons

29. K al kara laturk kenj tin .kaswa amot nikun halleO n feet to, fall they,began not

beimaw analfaithless become

30. U sade , . v erk,u handa denguda ’

sariye undiThen those to go one

Torgentorkascended

31. Undi mata : runtork handa latork munniOne hill descended to go began forward

32. V erku madak nadktur rohk dohaturk munda laturk ' bekehakeThose trees cut hou se built to remain began here there

33. N etka kiturk achorte rohku koitorkna kiturk pedhojat naru

Fields made all house for G onds made large city

became

34. 1Agane . batum nehaturk pedha nar Bhumi atu

There a bazaar held large Bhumi became

Wadki lator dada imet netku yadakit jah angTo say theybegan 0brother you fields sow j awari

86 . Usado v erkun bara mahinang atung aiwake Bhumi saharThen to them twelv e months became a good Bhumi

disa ‘

f.’ latu

37. B one kondang halv eke houku kondang atungWho bullocks hav e not those bullocks became

38. B on godang halv eki hon gadang atung sabbe wadangThose who hav e not to them became all bnclosures

naru nande matu

39. Lingal achorte koitork watnrk manditel'

To Lingo all G onds came c lose to thigh in rows

40. U tturk nadum Lingal niltur u sado Lingal wadka latur

Sat inmids t Lingo stood then Lingo to speak began

41. K enjatro koitorkHear O G onds

Achorte koitnrk nit imet bange samje mav it nit bonAll you G onds t o you anything understanding not to whom

indana dada bon indana babato call brother whom to call father

43. B en indana -

pari bona myad talokana bon sianaWhom t o call a relativ e whom a daughter to ask whom to giv e

Rontoda kawana u sado v erku koitork bangu wadkintorkWith whom t o laugh then those G onds what said

45 . Lingo imete pedhar buddhitone oiwake wadkt eT o you great understanding (is) good spoke

4G. B ahun wadlr te alum Linga niwa keide khamk kimuHow spoke so L ingo you with hands that do

47. Lingal sola kodang koitork miatork korkun repodalLingo six teen companies (of) G onds that w ere of them from am idst

nalnng kodang undi khak tehatu rfou r bands one side raised

48. Warona kei bitur bon intor ime ro gadiga manawayaO no

s hand caught whom said he you 0 friend manawajia .

atungbecome

Aske horn manaw aj ia atur u sado dnsarona kei bitur

Then he manawajia became Then another’

s hand

ro gadiya mete dahakiwah0 friend you dahakwale

50. Horn dahakiwale ojal atu rThat dahakiwale bards became

5 1 . Unde dnsroni kei bitar hon ime gadiyaAnd another

s hand caught him you

koilabu tal aiyaki horn koj labu tal atnrkofl abutal be he koilabutal became

52 . U sade dnsrona kei bito r honku bang iturThen other

s hand caught to him what said

gadiya koikopal aiyakewild koikopal be

Horn koikopal atur ihun kineke nalung kodang martungh e koikopal became thu s he made them four

scores

becameo

B ara k odang pis tung u sade Lingal nalung kodang tanturTwelv e bands remained then Lingo four bands separated

50. Mimeta kadu tan korku kitur dusaro kadatun bhil(U i) first band korkn became (of) another band bhil

kiturbecame

56. Tisaro kadatun kolami kitur chou totun kotoleyal kitur

(Of) third band kolami made (of) four th kotoleyal

at k0dangeight bands

57. Mor tung at rehe matung u sade bangu atu t lj u

(Finished) ended eight remained then what became third

weishakna mahinaor Weishak month

5 8. Watu u sade Lingal wadkintor dav itro dada makun

(Came) arriv ed then Lingo said come 0 bro thers to us

hallenot

59. Pen bagane diso apalo penu kikat punjaG od anywhere appears we god will make and worship

60. Achonti jank undiya paloAll persons one word

K itu rk seiyung warshana bakralSpoke fi v e years

old goat

62. Salmeta ku sac a ghogoti mund worshana kuwarik padnagA year old crowing cock thr ee years v irgin

63. G ai randu t aratu

Cow two bring

64. Manaojan keyat pen ghagarangManaojan call god chain

65. Dongur mudana tok'

ada gangawan chawur tarat ihun

Wild cow tailed cow tailed fan bring thus

itur LiDgalsaid Lingo

66 . Dukan mande imtu poladna Phars1 pot banekimtu

Shop spread (keep) of steel Pharsi pot

82 . U sade pus kiturk Pharsipen bang wadkinta kenj atreg dadsThen t o ask began Pharsipen what says hear O fa ther

83. Parin matan gondite yedang sandite imet datu hig iB etween twelv e hills in cav es in sev en hilly d ales you go

higa nawa pen kada himtathere my gods place make

84. Mu rine pen kate pajaye sabbete keitork handa laturkI n front god st ick behind all G ond s t o go b egan

85 . Ime t datu higa reitu rk j idi tera latu rk tonging wo r siThey went there aligh ted grass t o pick began s tones threw

86 . B zing11 wadkintor LingalThen Spoke Lingo

87. K enj atre dada mu nne dista biwalata mada tan narkatHear O bro ther yonder appears bij asal t r ee that cu t

88. Tana dliolc kintu mars bitu rk medet ige haturk madaI t s (drum) dhol make axe caught near t ree Wen t t ree

nad tu rkdid cut

89. B one sola biturk scramend yer tattu rk todi katnrkSome pit cher held pitcherful water brough t earth d ug

90. Tana wadata kitu rk adenparo penkate irturkI t s chabut ra made on it god st ick placedkinjatro dada niwa dhol atu halle atu

Hear O brother you r dhol became not ready

Munne kis patu sturk diyeng dos turkIn front fire bum lamp light

92. Seyung torang palnide shendur nahalerk seiyung torangFiv e t olas in gbi v ermilion wet fiv e tolasraru tantu rk kisan pare viadturk

ral (resin) take fire on threw

93. Munne Lingal u t tur keids pen GhagarangB efore Lingo sat hand joined god Ghagara

94. Ghagarang nekusta latur v ena mendode pen Rayetal watuGa

ngara (bell god) play began that (in) his body god Rayetal came

Pharsipen garsa laturl’arsapen t o play began

95. Jorat badakmend phulB ring goglet full of dam

96. K athi pare wadtur sewa Pharsipen iturThe s tick on Sprinkled it salam Pharsipen spoke

97. Randute'

keik joda kiturk kal kara latu rk kal karanekeTwo hands j oin ed did at feet t o fall began feet falling t im e

98 . Pen Rayetal mendode watu v eru Lingal deiya lat urG od Rayetal in body came he Lingo to j ump begm

hainake hale matu r yenda latu rmuch to mov e began dance (to) began

99. Usado bangu wadki latu Pharsipen ari nawa seij arangThen'what to speak began Pharsipen bu ng to me V l ctims

100. V erku seiyung salkna bakrai munne tachikun nilu tu rkThese fi v e years goats before hav ing brought made t o stand

101, Adenang kalk norturk tona taladunTheir feet washed his head

tanang kowdrapo phul wadturk

(in) his darn poured

102 . B akranku bisikun kal kara laturkGoat hav ing caught feet t o threw began

103. B akrana mindody Rayetal watu hoinuke ka sunga latu( In) goats body Rayetal came much t o shake began

tala hale kitu kowku gode kitu r mendodum j adtehead to mov e began ear to shake began t o the body shake

104. V erku ran nalungcha jank v iturk"bakran betu r tan

Then two four persons ran caught it

105. Pentparo aske laturk achorte natu r beke hakeG od before t o cu t began all blood here and there

106. Atark taladun munne iturk bakranku taha chikunB egan the head before to keep to the goat hav ing

undi khak irtu rkone side kept

107. U sade sa1 meta pandu gegute tan latu rk haden askeThen a year old white cock brought to it (they) cu t

108. Jantur neku sta laturk dhobi neku sta laturk eiwakeKingri to play b egan dhol to play began goo d

pendawaja neku sta latnrk

god music t o play began

109. B iwaks penu ku site wa tu garsa lataG ood god in pleasu re came to play began o

1 10. U sade randu fe padana kalk norturk toddi worturkThen two (of) calf ’s feet washed mouth washed

av ena talade sendu r sokturktheir head v erm ilion applied

1 1 1 . Av en neli aru tu rk aska latu rkThen down threw t o cu t began

1 1 2 . Randu padanang talang munne irturk usade Lingal bangu(O f) two ,the calv es heads before kept then Lingo“ w hat

Wadke lat ur kenj at ro dadat o say began bear 0 b rother

1 13. Lako re ireina Dadana tolk tandat bore tadaking bursatQuickly these calv es skins flay some liv er

1 14 . Roun tongmg taturk sodek kitu rk sodekun pu ro atkangSome s tones brought an ov en mad e on o v en on pitcher (for cooking

1 1 5 . Atkan rapo yer wad turk yetraro khandk wadtu rkPicther m water pu t in w at er flesh put

1 16 . Mardnang akung kweisikun tatu rk hadenang kuding kitu rkYen (tree) leaf hav ing cu t brought their

1 17. Dhadiate ghato biturku toda kitang khandku biturkIn brass plate cooked rice t ook liv er took flesh took

nalung div eng patu stu rk pent munne arifou r lamps lighted god before placed

1 1 8 . Puja kinturk bore irintor rupya pahud pendunAn offering made s ome were keeping (as ) r upee present (before) god

1 19. 1hun pendun munne ru pyana tongronmend rasi ar tu

So god before of '

rupees up t o knee a heap fell

1 20. Lingo wadki latu rk kenjatro dada eiwake mawa pengadaLingo t o speak began bear 0brother good (in) my god

s court

12 1 . Hanku sikatWhom shall we giv e

1 22. i at ro dada ichorkun rapodal bore waror Padal amtuHear 0 brothers (of) all from midst some one Pardhan (shal l) becomo

123. Horku amot sikunTo him we will giv e

138. Ihun itur imet kason pari kikit

you tort oise promise

139. Sabburkun sewa kitur habadi hudut ro dada mawAll salam made yonder looked O brother my

hanI go

1 40. Achonte jank .paja malsi hudturk hike Lin’

gal mayad laturAll persons behind . turned and looked here Lingo to hide began

Lingal turtur seri I srana saba ti hanj r niltur

go (to) gods cour ts in going stood

141 . Achonte koitork mahaka latu rk beke hatur mawor LingalAll Gonds to look began Where (is) gone our Lingo

P A R T V

l c institution byLingo of the rites of Marriage among the Gonds.

1 . Munne Padal atur joda hudile bandaka ihun itur Padal

B efore .Pardh an became spouse to look I will go thu s said Pardhan

2 .Ihun itur Lingal nalurkte upalotork chidurk padorkThu s said Lingo t o four you r small and great (ones )

mandauerk temile ma’

mt undi jaga unat undi paloremaining join (gather) become (in) one place sit one council

8.Achode koitork nsadi Lingal inter mawa pale kenjatro(To) all G onds then Lingo says our word hear

dada Padan rohkat adena bichar kikat

O brother Pardhan I will send his consideration t ake (do)

Aske rohkat paryak yet rapo . watkat paryatunThen they sent for rice water put rice

5 . Parya tundal u sade r ohkat te halle rebanal

( If) rice sticks then we will send if not we will not send

6 . K oitork usade walork Lingan paja munne nilturk

Gonds then t ame Lingo’s behind before stood

7. Paryak yetrap o watat rand paryat u sade yetrapo waturkR 100 in water cast two rice then in water they east

8 . Paryaku unditun undi j udematungRice t o one to one joined

9. Usado Lingal hudtu r tanwa kankne hudtur tanwa manteThen Lingo looked with his own eyes looked his (in) mind

intor bahun itan abune atu mawa madmina sagunsaid how said so become our marriages omen

bakota distn kenj atro dada

good seems hear O brother

10. Apalotor Padau misati velak hudile handaO ur Pardhan for you wiv es t o see let go

1 1. Usado Padan saware kiturThen Pardhan ready made (himself)

12 . Lingal inter Padan pale ima bandakiLingo says 0 Pardhan words you go

K achikopa Lahugad

koitork mantork horkunige bandakiG onds are t o

14. Hanj lkun ima nitki sewa‘

dharnirknitAfter going you s tand salam (make) to the head man

Nar a jahar mikun yavv i ihun indaki‘

iun ~v ehtur

My salutation t oyou mayreach this t ell thus

Hona palo'

kinj tur bor Padal agatal pasitur K achikopaHis word heard that Pardhan thenc

e d eparted KachikopaLahugadta sariya handa laturLahugad way t o go began

17. B or Padal horkna hatur niltu r bor PadalThat Pardhan their went stood that

sewa dhanirknitsalam (made) to the landlord

1 8. Ana miwar andan dada nakun Padal'

kitur1 your Pardhan am brother I Pardhan was mad e

oi' Lingal mikun nhanirk kitu rour Lingo you 10rd made

19. Lingal mihigi tu’

dik bade mantangLingo me daughters possess therefore

mawor Lingan miwang tudikunou

r Lingo

madming

20. War hudsikun amot kikomB ride hav ing seen we will join them

21 . N alurk te tamurk inda laturk Lingan mawa sewajaharThe four brothers t o tell began (t o) Lingo our salutation.

v éhakun srkemt ell we will giv e

Padal sewa kitur tanara natenda sari bitar Lin anigab ardhan salutation made t o (his) town way took t o ingo

23. 1hun itur bor Padal‘

Liiigaiiige mawor Lingal kintorteThu s said that Pardhan to Lingo our

38. Ghagading indana kaluhtana more.Pitcherfu l (of liquor) call giv e to drink (according to) custom

39. Dadiyaite diwai

paryaknang danang irana rand peisangIn brassplate a lamp rice grains keep two pice

irana akita V ida kuku ta d abba irana g‘

i lyada , pudikeep bet el rolls kuku box keep gu lal powderr

irana gbagaditun munne tikakeep (of) pitcher t o the front tika (sacred mark)

40. Ghatiyan mitustana tanpaja sabbetun mitustana(Then) t o pitcherman apply after ( 1t) to all

41 . Tanpaj a ghat wahatana u sade ask pata tandana nawarinAfter it pitcher break then women s ong sing on bride

hindang

42 . Joda gamoding tartil babare bain hare matil surwa rr

Pair of blanke ts spread 0 father daughther is lost (in) promise dearest

parematitwho was brought up

43. B abare chaka'

lobhi bainor surwanor hare

Q father ( for) liqu or ’s lov e daughter dearest is lost

44. K ada chaka ghatiyan siana

(O f) liquor drinking cup pitcherman giv e

45. Tanpaja ghatiyal chaka undana paja'

sabbe pangeturzAft er this (let) pitcherman the cup drink aft er all to company

46. Usado sewa kiana ihun kaluhtanaThen salutation do thu s custom

47. Jawayer undana

Sakado mowran hindorkn a

( In) themorning way sending (or despatching timo) bridegroom’

s side

kisiana sewa jahar kianado follow salutation do

49. Mela bheting ye stana apalo ron bandana nawran hindork

Embracing take t o your hou se go bridegroom’

5 side

nawaran ron

(at), pridegxnom’

s house

50. K alk norana nawarauork wartalk knlbht un

5 1 . Munne bang‘

anta ask pichi nawrintang aga bat pataB efore what women saffron g rinding when

Ange indanur angewo kural indanur

(Bhowjai) elder bro ther 's wife will speak 0 Bhowjaee bridegroom

angeowona pata ask waranungB howjai

s song women will sing

53. Tanpaja sabbe patang warana pichi nor

After this all songs may sing (of) saffron ground

kamkang kohkanasaffron make powder

54. B awajai indanu r dadal ihun pataBhowajai will say brother so sing

55. Saffron kahk sikun arti kiana dadiyatiSafi

ron hav ing ground wav e lamp in brass plate

v ida irana seigo supari iranabida (roll) keep whole nu t keep

K uku ta dabba irana paryaknang danangK uku

s (red powder) box keep rice

57. Thalite yer trana Laguyal badukne kel bianaIn a pot water bring (in) Laguyal bott le liquor keep

58. R otal pasitana lagnal munne aiana hon munne

Hou se from depart '

one whomarries in front maybecome him before

59. Pata warana bada pichi , walutuna pahile pichiSongs sing loudly saffron (in) procession (take) first saffron

nat ebhiman

(to) town Bhimsen (giv e)

60. B usaro pichi nate maram tisat egecond saffron (to) town Mata (god) third

pichi Siwarya boharyakunsafi

ron t o boundary and surrounding gods

61 . Pachawo pichi nate s Hanumantun sahawo pichiFifthly saffron (to) t own Hanuman sixthlyPanderitang penkun satwe pichi sanadumalkun tenpaj a(to) Pandhari god sev enth saffron ( to) (departed manes) after thisid pata warana bhiman

igethis song sing t o Bhimsen

62 . N il taru tana pata waranaOil offering song sang

63. Usada ron bandana nau ran

Then ( to) hou se go on bridegro om

akari dastanachain pu t

64. K ieda paryaknang danang siana

( In) hand of rice grains giv e

6 5. Undi ask munne aiyal paj aye walle asku nitanangO ne w oman before become behind many women

nau ran

of the bridegroom

66 . Gamade mu chu stanung mitu staleB lanket cau se to wear apply tika ( sacred mark)

67. B at pata waramungThen song sing

6 8. Dada kowsi paryak mitu sa hori aiyanur tamu dadaB rother with smile rice apply he will be father 0 brother

69. K ow si paryak mitu sa ade alyale awwale dadaLaughing rice apply that will be mother 0 brother

70. K owsi paryak mitusa adi aiyale selade dadarice apply that will be sis ter 0 brother

71 . K owsi paryak mitusa hore aiyanur akoye dadarice apply that will be grand father O brother

72. K owsi paryak mitusa dada ade s iyale

K owsi Paryak mitusa selak tangekLaughing apply to sister bhowajai

74. Rontatana nou ran ku t tulwatana honang kalknoranaHome bring br1degroom (make) s eat spread his feet wash

75. Hike hake pichi nauran pichi sakanaHere there saffron bridegroom safi

ron apply

76 . B ati pata warana hona bidhita kotkator pattadinWhat song weW111 sing ou r household priest O Pardhan

77. Kayat babare bidhi chawadi v ehtanurTell 0 father hou sehold story tell

78. Yer kineke bad pata warana

At bathing what song will sing

gaba mendul dadana kumakore masori dadana

Todde v ida kapade kuku bore B ajamar kuwaral ihunIn mou th bida on forehead kuku what . Raja’

s son is than

943. U sade bad mura anta paryak mitustantang u sade pataThen what cust om happens rice then song

warintangsing

95. I ndanu re dadal angede tawrite wailemi dosima augedeWill say brother 0bhawjaai in lamp mu ch (oil) is not pu t bhawajai

iudanure dadal munneye . taw ri paj aye nowriwill say brother (in front ) bridegroom (is) lamp after (behind) (is) bride

96 . Dboli neku staDrum b eat

97. U sade surnaite dhobrk nehanayeThen in pipes musicians gladly (sing)

98. Riyang asku sadoku tanvva J1wateni phu rkeYoung women old (women) in their minds glad

maiyanung undi jani padkne techikan nawran

one person forcibly hav ing risen the bridegroom

99. Podi paro upastanta nouran yedinta nehanayeDung hill on make sit bridegroom and dance gladly

100. Tanpaj a u ndi jani ku ttul ari nant ana yerkitalThereaft er one person seat (wooden) hav ing taken of bridegroom

101 . Tanpaj a arti bisi undi jani yedintaThereafter a

wav ing lamp hav ing taken one person maydance

102. Av en paja baren ku shi aw yedintang \ av en page. subheThen aft er who wish those maydance then after all

patang waristingsongs sing

103. Morang nawrana mantang yerkiana atu

Cust om bridegroom’

s is bathing ended

104. Aske bang kiana unde nauran kuttudi upu stana nalnngThen what do and the bridegroom on the seat make sit four

aski tahtana nawran

women make to rise the bridegroom.

105 . Tachikun ron woyana usikun ; uppetana p pusikond J~N

A fter rising home take hav ing taken make sit after sit ting

gawanang talanacakes bring

106 . Hav e gawanang sabbe tintang pata bada'

ro warintangThose cakes all eat and song With lo ud v 01ce sing

107. Saru tan waktne babina gawanatun j im,‘ dada

(At ) turning time to Bhowajayi s garment beat 0broth er

108 . Tanpaja bate anta t indana undana mora . bang m anilaThereafter what happens (of) eating drinking cust om what is

109. Ghagadi mend kal tatana raehade irana manyalkun keyanaPitcher fu ll liquor bring in compound keep (to) men call

wartalkun keyana rachade upu sikna upu sikun sabbe askun

(to) gu ests call in conpound make sit a fter sitting all ,women

chidak padhanung k eyana sabbe rachadecall all in compound

1 10. Ghagaditun tika paryak'

na mitustana ghatyanTo pitcher tika of rice apply to pitcherman

1 1 1 . Mitu stana u sada sabbotun mitus tanaApply then - to all

1 12 . Mitusikun kada uklekim chakaAfter applying to (the) lid of the cov er open it cup

1 13. Jawadi kudingporo wade tan paro ku sari watana tanparoSoji of jawari plates on serv e it on dal pu t it on

undi mircha watanaone chilly put

N uka sawor irana kudinparo watsikun bahun pensitaLitt le salt keep plates on after serv ing how god giv e

acho w adeBO serv e

11 5 . Tinj lkun atu u sade keikun dhatiyate noru stana ihunAfter eating (is) ended then hand s in a bras s plate ( cause to) wash so

kiana mandita morado eating custom

1 16. Techikun bang kiana nawranige rator bandana manyalkAfter rising what do bridegroom house t o go (let ) men

sawari kiana

1 17. K eyana undi 3811 11 talada ‘

sianaCall one woman (on) her head ghat (with a lamp) -

of pot giv e

tanparo patal tawari irana thau tparo tansirmu l ak ingon it a burning lamp keep on the pot around it betel of

nagweltang dohaehikunbe fastened

1 18. Sebbe manditork ane asku hamdanaAll iu company those women l et go

1 19. Sabbe saware mayana nawran toda paring dos tale rotal(Ev ery) preparation being made from home

pasitanamay depart

1 20. Apalota penta paror yétana yechikun rotal pusitalOf their god name taken hav ing from house let them depart

12 1. Pasisikun Marotiu v ida chade‘

nawral kal karanaAfter departure to Maroci bida offer bridegroom (or) feet fall

1 22. N awrina rota sari biana munne

B rides hou se way take before (in front)

N era — The word v ida,or bida,occurs frequent ly in the abov e song. I t means an

offering of betel-nut made to the gods .

F I N I S .

A P P E N D I X l .

The foldowing N ote is ascer tained to hav e been taken byM r . Hislop at N agpore.

Three G ondi women, named respectiv elyMangali, Tami,and Mohani,came to me tod ay

( 25th Ju ly186 1 ) w ith Paharsingh . They are nativ es o f this d ist rict (Nagpur ). Mangaliwo r

shipped six god s,and the two others se v en . All say taat there is one C reat or,whom the Hind u scall B hagawan,and they call simply Pen,73. e. god . Among the sixgods the great est is PharsiPen,so cal led from Pharsi,a bat t leaxe, in the form of a B ar chi, eight inches long,becau se heis said to hav e b een born in the hou se of a Lohar . ‘3.

-Khode, or K hodial,so named frombeing made of the t runk of a tree,called in their language mundi,bu t in Marathi,Karam,of this form6;the spherical part being ab ou t three inches in diameter, and the projectinghead ,which is made of the same piece, abou t 35 inch es . When it is w orshipped on Akhadi,Jiwati,Shimga,and Diwali, it is placed,as abo v e,on a chabu t ra at other t imes it is k ept in a

ghagwr, or earthen pot . 3.—Sant

’tlk, from Sat u r, t o die, or a d ead man ; in the Marathi V

expressed as U t ranche dewa, i. e. the god or gods who d escend (u tarane) t o the earth againafter they hav e left it by death . O n a d ay dev oted t o the worship of the manesj for whichno time is fixed, the relat iv es of the d eceased assemble and go through the prescribed cere

monies at the hou se aft er which they go to an open place,where int o the hand s of the Pujaric ome down,as is imagined , tw o or thr ee m orsels of a whit e thing like qu artz,of the size of arice grain . The ceremonies include the sacrifice of a goat,when theymake a chabu tra,and placeon it fou r or fiv e pebb les,and at the four corners new gbager e encircled with thread ; an d rice,poli,and wada, according t o the number of the d ec eased

s gods, are placed around the

chabu tra. They throw a lit t le of each on the pebbles with daru ; the relativ es saying,“Acceptit and willingly descend .

The w omen sing?"6 the m usicians make a no ise, and int o the t

hands of the Pu jari comes Sainalk . 4.—Munjal,which means an u nmarri e dman (kuwara). I t

rises like a prot ubera nce,abou t one and a half inches high,of shendur ( red lead ), spontaneously on a chabu tra in the hou se at night, when no per son can see . This is to commemorate dead unmarried men and the supposed mirac le does not take place so oftenas in the case of the Senalk . 5 .

— Du rga ( is a god, and not t o be confounded with the

Hindu goddess). His form is like K hodial,and is made of the same wo od,and is kept in a

earthen pot ,except when he is worshipped onAkhadi,Jiwat i,Shimga,or Holi and Diwali. Whens ick theyma ke v ow s t o him,and if they get bet t er they fu lfil their v ow s on the days men

t ioned . R hodiel t heyw orship also, on Jiwati,Holi,&c .,bu t not in consequence of a v ow

they simplyremember him when theyare feasting,and payhim the at tention of a finger full ofv ermilion and a hen . Pharsi Pen is w orshipped at fu ll m oon of Weishak,ev ery third year.He was worshipped last in 1860, T o him they offer a white cook, a whit e he-goat,and a

white young cow . G.— Chu da Pen,chuda being the Hindi for the Marathi yer, or kada,— a

man’s bracelet . He is worshipped und er the form of a bracelet of iron, along w ith K hodial /

and Durga, on the four feast s . The two worshippers of sev en god s said that the abo v e

named were theirs also,and theyadded a sev enth,i. e. Sakali Pen,equal t o the chain god,whichis spread ou t on the household chabu t ra in the form of a circle,abo v e one foo t in diamet er,w orshipped along with the others that are ad ored on the four feast s . PharsiPen is not

w orshipped with these,though a litt le honor is paid him on Akhadi when,going ou t into

their compound,the men offer him there a few Mohwa fru it s, throw a litt le rice,which theyallow a chicken to eat after which, the chicken is killed, cooked ou t side, and eaten, w omen r

not being allowed t o be present . So when Pharsi Pen’

s great feast takes place ev ery third,’

fou r th,or fifth year,and people assemb le from a distance, the ceremonies are c ondu ct ed with

great secrecy; no Hindu,or ev en G ond w omen being allow ed t o be present . O n that day,if aG ond w oman in black comes to the door of a G ond hou se,she is not admit ted . N0 fire is

giv en from the hou se.

The Sat -dewala can intermarrywith the Saha-dewala,or fiv e and fou r-god worshippersbu t the six,fiv e,and fou r-god w orshippers might not intermarry, theybeing reckoned one .

The Kuls ( sect s) among Sat-dewala are -Maskola (t o which mytw o informant s belonged),Madav i

B halav i,Masaram,Dhu rwal,l rpochi,K u rsangal,K ou ratti,Sarotal,Sariyam,G ajyam,Seryam,

Donders madadolka nike lata.

under ) B auhz'

nia tree ( when) the d rum to beat has begun .

Nago endi lator .

0N ago ( anydead man’

s name to dance thou hast begin.

K andatal,B umnsha,K arpat irk,K okodyal or K okotta,Jugnakal,Yunati,Pandaram,with oneor two others . These Kuls are t he Adnaw of the Sat-dewala, as Sirkia, «Et c . are among theMahrat tas . Maskola mu st not marry a Maskola woman,theymu st look ou t beyond the se v ent o the six Dewala . The Kuls among the six Dewala,are Kumral ( informant Wikal,Wat ti,Marapal,Ghodam,K odapal, Pendam,Malgam, Mandhari,N arpachi,Salanik, Sedam, G adam,N amurt al, Puranik, Tedanganik,YV arkadalk, Adalk, Neitamk, Kowalk,Markamk, Tekamk .

The Kuls of the fiv e or fo un god w orshippers are reckoned among those . The sev en and fourare the most num erou s . K hu sram,Tadam,Kot iam,and K o tlam are six Dew allas ; others,mentioned by C olonel B almain, as at Raepore,are no t known here, 6 . g. Seduram, Pando ti,Jagret . Sakkam,and sou th ofWu rdah,Su rpam

— fiv e,and Atram,K u lmnt ta,Yerma- six.

My informant s,whether sev en o r six-god wo rshippers, call themselv es K oitors,and say thatalthough the Pardhans* follow the same religion, and are sub -div ided, according t o thenumber of their god s,yet t he cas te is d ifferent , and th ey neither eat nor int ermarry witht hem . The Pardhans will eat from the hands o f the K oitor s, and are reckoned inferior .

Mohani,one of the sev en-god wo rshippers,is a Pardhan,and goes t o the hou se of Tami,where she may eat ;bu t if Tami goes t o Mohani

s house,she may not eat . The Pardhans,likeMohani

s hu sband ,who,how ev er, is employed in secu lar serv ice, d ischarge the func tions of

B hate,i. e. sing songs and giv e information on genealogical mat ters . B u t these are few .

They also think it no indignity t o playon st ringed inst r uments they call themselv es Raj?

Pardhan,as Tami is a Raj G ond . B eneath them there is a sub —di v ision”

whose w omen tatt oo

G onds and Hindu s . B eneath them again is a sub -div ision who play on wind instru

ments of w ood,while there is s till a low er class who speak m ore Marathi than G ondi,and playon w ind instrument s o f b rass, and spin t hread like the Mbare. All these,how ev er,w orship the sam e god s, and are su b-div id ed accordingly. The B humuks in the v illages areeither G onds or Pardhans . They profes s t o keep the boundaries of the v illage free fromw ild beast s and cholera,and are ent it led, on that sing le account,t o a field and some mango

and other trees from the Pat el,and t o an allowance of rice and other grains from each cu ltiyator,Hindu or G ond . G awaris profess th e G ond religion,but speak Marathi. They ac t as

s erv ants in k eeping the cow s and buffaloes of others bu t in general hav e none of their own,

except in the j ungly district s,w here they loosen a heifer for sacrifice.FE STIVALS— AK HAD I , JIWAT I ,PO LA,Drwx m,AND SH IMGA.

O n Akhadi,which this year,1 86 1 ,happened on 23rd Ju ly,the men go ou t to their w ork

bu t the w omen clean t he hou s e and v essels, bring w ater, b athe, grind, and breakfastabou t noon, when the men hav e r et urned from th eir w ork . These now bathe,and,with

ou t eating, prepare for c elebrating Phar si Pen’

s worship,which takes place in the compoundo f each abou t 3p m . There the head of the hou se prepares a spot w1th cowdung, and

lays on it a small heap of rice (tandu l),and abov e that again he besmears a lit t le d ry\v ermilion, set s before the heap a wh ole su pari on fi v e b et el leav es . Then he ki lls a youngco ck,and sprinkles it s blood on the heap, on which h e su bsequ ent ly pou rs libations of ar rack .

Aft er this he throw s into the fire,which is'

bu rning before t he heap, a fru it of the Mohwat ree (B assia -la tifolia ); and then proceed s t o b o 1 ] the fow l fo r his own entert ainment,which he

eats,after hav ing d runk off a bot t le of arrack . There is no image or representation of Pharsr

Pen,except the rice ; and at the t ime of offering the v ermilion and young cock,he simplysays,I am a poor man,and giv e you this v ermihon and fowl ; accept it at myhand . Keep u s safe

b less ou r fields and if I su rv iv e,I shall worship thee next year . T hen abou t fou r o ’

clock heent ers the hou se,and all the family j oin in drinking daru . The male memb ers then go ou t

and drink more at the liqu or -shop,and d on ’

t ret urn till abou t eight . At 10 the hou seholdfea s t commences,which consist s of small cakes of u did, and or wheat fried in Mohwa 011,

(which is forbidden to be eaten new from the tree t ill that dat e), ric e,pu lse,fowl,and v egeta

ble. B efore the company commences t o eat there is a copiou s allowance of ar rack d rank .

Then when t he w omen hav e s erv ed up the eatab les to the m ales, they th emselv es srt down at

a short dist ance t o par tak e,though sometimes theywait till the others hav e finished . Abou t1 1 at night al l go to s leep.

Jiwati,which is in the month of Shrav an.- In the morning,hav ing attended t o household

du ties, as before,the mother abou t 12 giv es the childr en their br eakfast . Abou t 3p m . she

begins the cooking for the feast . Abou t 8 p m . the ceremonies commence, till Wt h t ime

both the parents hav e been fasting. The wife brings forward the articles, and the hu sband

places th em in order . O n each side of the chabu t ra in the hou se are placed small cakes( as ab ov e) —two of u did, two of wheat flou r cov ered with ga l sugar). O n the chabu tra are placed3,4,5,6 small h eaps of rice,according t o the number of gods professedlyworshipped by thefamily,w ant ing one for Phar si Pen . O n the rice heaps is pou red dry

v ermih on . Aft er

which on the chabu t ra in fr ont o f the heaps is laid a cook or a young p ig,whi ch may be

bought at‘

4 annas . Then joining hands ,and pronou ncmg the names of his the

exception of Pharsi Pen,e. g.,R hodiel, saursk ,Munja,Durga,Chuda Pen,and Sakah Pen,heasks them to receiv e the offerings t o keep the hand s and feet of the fam ily safe, to bles s

*Hindu name equal to Pradhan (Prime Minister),but among themselv es,Pathadi.

falls ofi'

the child,they shav e its head,and clean the floor and walls of the housee Then thechild,who had been washed daily from the day of birth,with the mother,are bat hed for thelast t ime,and the w omen of the neighbou rhood are called in,to whom is dist ribut ed a brassplate fu ll of tu rmeric flou r to apply to their bodies . Then these w omen bathe and receiv ea.port ion of a dish composed of fried sesamum s eeds,gul,and cocoanu t . Arrack is brought ina pot and pou red ov er the now filled pit dug in the floor for the water u sed in bathing thebaby and mother ; th e nurse w orships Chhat i, who is supposed by Hindu s on that day t ow rit e on th e sku ll of each ch ild it s fu tu re dest iny . The w orship consists in offering pans upari . and one pice , and kuku,and a little lamp black,w hich is applied with the finger t othe ground,and a lit tle t ooth powder. After this, they lay down on the same spot a port ionof the sesamum, gu l (su gar ) and cocoanu t mixed together ; then daru is sprinkled ; then an

unboiled fi sh named tepari (small ),like minim, which is some times liv ing, somet imes dead ,kichari,and dal bhat . After this, all the w omen dine and drink t ogether : from that day thefamily are free from ceremonial defilement . O n 7th day is Barsa,so called by Hindu s becauseit is observ ed on 1 2th day among them . O n this day the family inv ite friends and relat iv esfrom a dis tance, who come w ith present s of cloth for the mother and child, and banglesfor the lat ter. Aft er all the w omen,both of the v illage and other v illages , are assembledin the house,and the men in the compound,a chatty fu ll of arrack is brou ght to the lat t er,the women sing

Héroré boro deu ral bainorT edaro shend ukoko jhela nadi dohdPhu lkata chhakawalhuya

Targnaké chidung chadungBe inahe ghat ung t e jhelapeiyaka d eu rmoré .

Of this lady,who ( is the brother-in-law ( husband ’s younger brother )O brother-in-law dads , ris e 0 l w ith du pata bind ( you r ) wais t .The arrack div iding go round.To as cend 1 am pregnant .

To descend ov er the hills w ithou t cloth a child will be born,0my brother-ln-law .

And after hav ing partaken liberally of the liqu or,all dine . O n 9th daythe name is gi v en .

They firs t dist ribu te boiled wheat and gram ;and w omen in a cloth rock the child to s leep,atwhich t ime the name is giv en by all the w omen presentMarr iage.

—The ‘bet rothal takes place generally abou t tw o years before the marriage . Thefather of the youngman goes to the hou se of th e young woman and asks’her father if he is Wllling to giv e . Before gi v ing his consent omens mu st be consu lt ed . Into a brass plat e they pou rw at er,and pu t one grain of rice for the lad ,and another for the lass . If they adh ere,thenthe bet rothal proceeds . The father of the former promis es t o giv e the father of the lat terRs . 1 6 (apparen tly a cons tant amount R s. 14,t o which other 2 are ad ded on the plate, see

below) and WM lugade . The rupees ar e giv en about one month before the marriage,and theyoung man ,hav ing his body anoint ed w ith oily t u rmeric,w ith a ret inu e goes t o hi s fu tur efather-in-law

s V illage,ou t side of which h e is met by the father-in—law, w ith a number offriends also, and he is lodged in the hou se of a neighbou r (wanos '

a of Mahrattas). There all

remain during the night, receiv ing from the father-in -law something to eat . N es t day the

bridegroom ’

s father,&c go to the bride ’

s hou se, where they are seated out side of thethreshhold,the father-in -law being in the ins ide . The bridegroom’

s father present s t o the

bride ’

s father on a bras s plat e kuku, rice, a lamp,and Rs . 2, and the latter present s to

the former in a bras s plat e kuku , rice,a lamn 2 pice,and red powder,which is thrown by eachfather on the other and the rest of the company. Then they giv e each other daru t o drinkin a bras s cup . Then the bridegroom’

s father brings two chat t ies of da m,and the bride’

father one,when all join in drinking. The bride ’

s relat iv es take the br 1degroom ’

s father,850.

to a riv er or tank,co v er them w ith turmeric,and bathe them, when they ret u rn to the hou se .

The bride'

s father prov ides a pig (with the 2 ru p ees) for the entertainment of the company.He also brings one chat ty of dam , and the other father two chat t ies . Meanwhile,the bridehas left her own hou se and hid herself among the rafters of some neighbouring t enementand the women, taking a kamli (blanket),go in search of her, s inging-0

Teda kamlo awar aia lataSai awar ai teri kamlo tedon .

Ris e lady,delay is happening.

Go delay is, st ill,0ladies, I rise not .Then they climb u p towards her she leaps down they seize her,and cov ering her up with

t he kamh, she all the t ime stru ggling in v ain, they bring her to the house,where she

grasps her parents and all her relat iv es, and hangs on their necks w eeping. Then the

entertainment proceeds . This is the great Sagai inMarathi (in Gondi,paring) or betrothal . N ext

morning the bridegroom and his relat iv es leav e for their homes . At parting,the bride ’

female relat iv es,hav ing made a garland of the pig’s feet,a small cake of u did,onion,and redp epper,the br ide

s father throws it ov er the neck of the other father,and on his moustache

and face,the seed of some plant (called, in Marathi, ashta) like tu ls i . whose seeds areAt first black,but by st eeping in water become whit e. The bridegro oni

’s relativ es cont ribu te

Among themselv es pice, cow ries,red thread, pieces of cocoanu t ; and giv e the bride - and so

depart . O n tha t same day the bridegroom’

s relat i v es,aft er reaching their home, commencet o build the marriage bower. (From t he day that the R s . 14 w ere giv en the bride had

begun t o go weeping,along w ith other tw o, also w eeping, t o neighbou ring V illages, and theyare ent ert ained by relat i v es for a day here and there,and receiv e a cow ,goat ,pice cloth,850acco rding t o the ability of the gi v ers). That ev ening in the hou se a lota is filled w ith wat erand a pice thrown int o it,and a Cov e r is placed on the t op of it and set before the bridegroom,who is seated, arrayed in a new cloth and in t his pos it ion he is obliged t o remain t ill thebride and her party arr iv e —

abou t 2 o ’clock next morning. At their arriv al they salut e the

bridegroom ’

s relat iv es w ith opprobriou s songs and beat Wooden cymbals ; friends are receiv ed inthe same mann e r by the lat t er. Quart ers ar e app oint ed t o them in a neighbouring house.Then abo ut 5 o ’clock they retu rn t o the house ;bu t before entering,the bridegroom goes ou tand meet s the bride in the plain. The friends of both hold up betw een them tw o dupat tasas v eils,w ith a s light int erv al between them . A w oman who had taken up the lota at tendsthe bridegroom w ith it on her head, and s o a w oman,s im ilarly fu rnished,at tends the bride .

And now the bridegroom creeps und er the v eil in t o the intermediate space, and so does thebride . Then,when both are m et,the v eil is Withdrawn,and they ar e left facing each otherwhen the bridegroom pu t s his foot on that of the brid e t o prev ent any res istance,and an ironring on the lit t le finger o f the bride ’

s right hand, and fixes his left li t t le finger in her rightlitt le finger . Then an old man,not necessarily a relat iv e,knocks their foreheads together and

while they are remaining in this pos it ion h e kills a chicken,and places it s body under the

compressed foot of the bride, adding in a whisper an exhortat ion t o them t o be faithful toeach other . Lifting. two balls, one of rice and another of cowdung, he w av es them roundtheir heads and throw s them away Again, taking a fow l he w rings it s neck and wav esit s body round them and throws it away, and so w ith a cu p 0: dar n. Then fromone s ide and the other w omen throw on the tw o jh ondale colored w ith saffron Ifthe bridegroom is six or sev en Dewala, then, according t o the number of his gods, cakeso f wheat, and udid fried in oil ( poli and wada),along w ith rice, are brought in a new

basket and giv en by him,t ogether with the fow l and any daru that remains, t o the old man,

who had remained about tw o days fast ing, f

il e. from the t ime of erect ing the b ower. Then t hebridegroom leads the bride t o the bow er. Here in the centre a pole has been erected,‘ roundwhich,holding st ill her finger, they walk fi v e t imes, the bridegroom ’

s female att endant beingbefore him all the t ime With the lota on her head and pou ring wat er on the ground by a

spou t ou t of an earthen pot like a teapot ; the bride ’

s female at tendant follow ingher w ith the lot s.on her head,bu t pou ring no wat er. The bridegroom is no t only linked to the bride behindhim,but t o the at tendant before him . Then u nder the shade of the bow er a chabu t ra isconstruct ed,on which the tw o young people sit in a line, the bridegroom With his lota at hiss ide, and the bride w ith hers ,and hav e the skirts of their respec tiv e garment s knot t ed t ogether by the bridegroom ’

s elder brother ’s Wife or byhis s ister. After this the bride anointsher spou se w ith saffron and bathes him . Then b oth hav ing filled their mou ths w ith watersqu irt it on each other,and holding each other by the lit tle finger they go t o his hou se, at thedoor of which they are met by his s ist er,who asks something befo re she will perm it them t o

enter . The bridegroom gi v es a bracelet , and p romises a cow,whereupon they are permit ted toent er. Here they sit on a kamli s ide by s ide,w ith the bridegroom ’

s thigh rest ing on that ofthe bride . Then the bridegoom giv es a handfu l of rice int o the hand of the bride, whoput s it int o a small ear then v essel, and her eyes being cov ered by the bridegroom’

s sist er shespills it on the fl oor, and v ice v er sa she giv es him,the bride ’

s s ist er blindfolding the bridegroom,and he spilling the rice . Then before each of the two, 2 leafy p lates of rice,poli,and wada are set ,which they snat ch from each other ;these remaining w ith the st ronger partybu t u lt imat ely all are div ided among the company. Instead of their dal bhat, some rice cakesare

oplaced before them,when the bridegroom endeav ou rs to feed the bride by force. After

whi ch,abou t 8 e .m .,the w ife leav es him and goes w ith some girls t o the separate hou se ap

pomt ed for her recept ion. There tw o oppos ite row s of w omen strike up abu s iv e songs,f’

eé’

péfiding t o p

each other,and drinking an abundance of daru , which cont inu es t ill 2 p in . Then,a

p ig is prepared for the coming entertainment ,which takes place at 10p .m .,and consists of thepol k,rice,poli-wad i, and daru . At the end the bride retu rns t o t he s eparate house as before,bu t next morning she is brought t o her hu sband ’

s hou se and left w ith him,when her relat iv estake their departu re the bride ’

s father being now the wearer of ‘ the pig’s foot’

garlandthe br ide crying, and all throwing red powder on each o ther. In nine days after the bride’

s” ,

father pays them a V is it,and takes away t he bride t o the home of her yout h,and re tu rns héi’t o her hu sband on

,Jiwati. There is no specified month for marriages among the Gonds, bu t

she mu st retu rn on Jiwati. I n some places a marriage necklace ( in Marathi,— garsolim Hind i,PO13;l is bound bu t this is learned from Hindus .

Death.— If the deceased had been rich, theypurchase a new cloth ; if poor, an old one in

u sed for the pu rpo se . They firs t bring the body but of the hou se, bathe it, and a'

noint itWi th turmeric,and then w ith ghee, and cov er the icins wfth a langoti. Then they layit on

a bamboo bier,and cov er it with the bloth,and tie it with cords Then the men carry it té

the plac e of interment, on a riv er’s bank O r in the jungle,and bu ry it, after hav ing st rippedit of ev ery piece of cloth and laid a leaf of Palas or R ui (Ca lotmp is gigantea). The face iskept upwards, head t o south, the feet t o north. Then they go t o the riv er, bathe,andrepair to a liqu or shop and drink. The w omen hav e meanwhile cleaned the hou se ; theneighbou ring w omen bring bread, rice, &c . t o it ; and all the m en who had gone t othe funeral sit down t o eat O n the spot where the deceased expired a basket is

placed w ith rice, two root s of hu ldi,and one chicken . and a little flou r is scat teredon the grou nd,and all is cov ered u p Wi th a large basket all night . Next morningthey open it u p,and place the contents in an earthen v es sel, along w ith bu tt er, t urmeric,and red lead, and one carries the whole ov er his shou lder w ith a hat chet . All themen of the v illage form th e process ion,and at the riv er anoint themselv es w ith thetu rmeric and bu t t er,and under a t ree make a mama,and on it offer a lit tle heap of rice andr ed lead,asking the dead man,now deemed a god, t o accept them. They then saC iifice a

chicken . There the men remain, cook and eat . Men bring darn ; and the w omenwho had been cooking at home carry some of the v ict uals t oward the same spot,and on theway,on a branch of C alo t i Opis placed for the pu rpose,they throw some dal bhat and dam and

water, and ask the dead man t o receiv e them aft er which they retu rn home, A messengerfrom the t ‘iapna now comes and carries off the prov isions and dam ,and t he m en feas t at thet ree While t he w omen do the same at the hou se . When the men retu rn,they dine again.

Then the cc -religio iiists of the deceas ed bring darn,and dipping in it a branch of Nim tree,sprinkle the heads of t he members of the family, and serv e the whole male and femalepresent w ith as many cups of dam as the deceased w orshipped gods .

H its N ote is ascer tained to ha v e been taken by M r . H islop at N agpore.

GON DS : 27TH SE PTEMBER, 1 862 .

Mange Pardhan S edam (4-god-w orshipper) and DubaliDholi,Maskola(7 god),from theMotibag .

The G awali dynas ty ruled ov er this cou ntry. At Deogad and N andbesu r,near Girad,Chimnajia

nd G ondaji, t w o brothers,w ere the repres entat iv es when Bade (great) Row,originally of theKangali t i ibe,and a

ft erw ards, for the reason aft erward s giv en,made the head of a new t ribe,

w as his Bhumu k H is great god PharsiPen w as set up at Janib,35. kos s abov e Deogad. on the

Dew a Riv er. I n ltfirgeshw ar ( t'

6 . beginning of th emonsoon ) this riv erwas flooded and broughtdown i i. any Kheir t rees all the inhabitant s of Deogad w ent ou t t o s ecu re the spoils,andamong o thers w ent the B humuk . Others t ook the small t ru nks, bu t not s o h e. A large one

came and immed iat ely be leaped upon it, b u t it eluded his grasp and float ed up th e riv er,hesw imming a

ft er it . I t s topped not t ill it came t o Jam b, and there he brought it out t o the

bank, wh en it appeared v ery beau t iful . At the sight the captor was o v erjoyed, saying,in his m ind, that I Will make ou t of it a splendid baton . At last,w ith a promise of Rs . 5

t o a carpent er,he had made ou t of it a w ooden sword ( khanda ). Going t o a Jingar he

made a s imilar pr omise for a Scabbard, bu t fulfilled neither, as he Was bu t a poor man.

Then off h e w ent w ith th e w e apon u nder his arm t o th e Kachari of the Gawali king, and,aft er making salam i,stated that he came for s erv ice . O n being asked h ow mu ch salary hew anted,he replied M Ku dus of ru pees a month ( 1 Ku du = 10seers, or 8 pailies What willyou do for su ch a large salary ? st av at home,and come when occas ion requ ires . The Rajsconsent ed, and the rupees w ere duly gi v en for six months, du ring which Bade R ow bu iltfor himself a hou se B u t one of the Raj ah’

s s erv ants,who profess ed great friendship, discov ered,on on e occas ion,when the sword w as inadv ertent ly laid on the ground ou t of itsaccu st omed armpi t, that it was of w ood,and commu nicat ed his discov ery t o His Highness,Th e Raja said w e w ill soon s ee ;in 10days is the B usara L et a fiv e year old male buffaloe beprov ided for the occa s ion, and let the Gond b e appointed t o cu t ofi

it s head w ith his khanda.

The poor man w as sorely perplexed . H ow could he w ith his w ooden sw ord accomphsh su ch afeat . H e could neither eat nor drink . The god Pharsi Pen, and Manko Rayetal his wife,appeared to him in a dream,t old h im t o be of good cheer, t o take his w eapon at the same

t ime w ith the others t o the riv er,bu t t o go higher u p the s tream to Wash it, then to car

it home and w orship it . The preliminaries o v er, he smeared a spot in his hou se witcowdung

— set up on the chabutra the khanda. While engaged in the w orship a shoutfrom tw o m en at the door of the angan reached him, calling him t o come,as the bu ffalowas ready. He t old them t o tell th e Raja h e was in the middle of the ceremonies,and wou ldcome when they were finished. The Raja sent three more. The same reply. Then four,whowere ordered t o bring him by force . N ow he called on his gods not t o allow him to be dishonored O Adhalpen,Bu dhal Pen O Pharsi Pen,Manko Rayet al 016 Satis"(who ofi

ered‘

t hemselv es on the funeral pile,when PharsiPen killed his three brothers ,Subhadra,K ubhadra,and Lingobhan Pariyor,

— the 1 6 being the mot her of all, three w iv es of three, and the 1?

daught ers of Subhadra ) be fav orable t o me .

” The answer was, Whydo you fear. B u t

what sign do you giv e of you r fav or 2” “Draw you r sword and you w ill see .

”He drew the

sw ord and it flashed like lightning,at which he was blinded and prostrat ed on the ground.Th e god s,moreov er,t old him t o inform the Raja that when he shou ld lift his sword to killthe buffalo,the K ing shou ld set 750 men w ith their mat chl ocks ready turned on him and

discharge their bullets,otherwise Pharsi Pen would render all thewomen of the city barren.

danced and sang ; bu t the demon allowed him to sleep near the wheat. At the expirationof the ninth day,the demon suggested that a lime shou ld be fixed on the end of a sword,which the man had in his hand . The women pu t earthen pots of water andwheat u pon theirheads,and,dancing and singing,all went to the river and threw in the offering of the firs tfru its . Whether this was an u nu su al possession, or whether it always accompanies theoffering of the firstfruits, I cannot exactly find out .

A P P E N D I X I I I.

N ote made by M r . H islop ,from“

information obtained through Seraj ooddcen, a

N a tiv e Christian, I nsp ector of P olice.

GONDS or THE SEO N EE DISTRICT : 2GTH N O V EMB ER 1 861 .

His informant was a seven-god worshipper— Bada dewa, Matiya, Sale, Palo, Sakal dewa,Gadawa,and Kham Khatar Pen, and K hawariyal (K odiyal). Three others were mentioned,as Dhanbai,Dhan-takoor, and Dhan Gopal. Khatar Pen and K hawariyal are representedby balls of wood

,and Dhanbai and the other two by balls of iron . When Gonds die they

are committed to Gadawa, who is the god of the dead, and takes care of them . Khamdewa is worshipped u nder a Saj tree. Chhota dewa, is represented by a little stool,W 1th

short legs,abou t 10by 8 inches, of one piece of wood . There is offered t o him a. chl cken,

pig, shendu r (red powder) and dar u ( spirit s) bu t no sheep or goat ; bukra (sheep) 1 s offeredonly to the great god . Matiya dewa remains with the great god, and is llkGO

hl s‘Kotwoal.They offer him a young pig. Sale is nearly equ al w ith the great god, and s1ts vn th h 1m

on the same gaddi (cu shion or throne). He is offered a she-goat. Gangara and Palo areoffered a cow.

The Gond informant said O ur gods eat cow ’s fl esh,and why should we not } Gadawadwells in our hou ses. After performing the funeral ceremonies of the dead, in h 1 s namewecommit them to his protection, He is represented by a chatty (earthen p0t ) w1th a littlevermilion in it,and a lid, like a lamp,covering its mo u th it is hung up to the 1ns1de of theroof,and taken down by a man aft er bathing,when it is to be worshipped . Kham dewa isworshipped under a Saj tree, and sim ilar offerings are made to Chhota dewa. Phark1 Pen isnot a dewa ;he is pat or saint. V ows are made to him and those who have them fu lfilled,worship him : bu t all do not . Along with Chhota dewa there are two gods of wood, calledK hawariyal and Khatar Pen,and three of iron,i. e. Dhanbai, Dhan-takoor,and Dan-gopal .Besides these, is a chain of iron,which is called Sakai dewa. On the day of Amawashya,

I p ut it on after worshipping ; then take it through the bazaar, which .

held on Monday,with the sound of drums ; and on the eleventh day, after w orsh1pp1ng it agam, I W1 11place it ins ide of Gadawa, which is su spended from the roof. Chuda Pen 1s the same asSakal Pen ; the sym bol in some cases being a chain, in others an iron bangle . HoleRay (Ray= K ing)is represented by (3of wood he is worshipped only by those who havecows. Bag dewa is a person killed by a tiger, and he is worshipped under that name byhis family in the jungly districts arou nd . Sana is a dead woman, and Doma 1s a deadman . They are al so worshipped. We Worship Marimataas well . We dont worship Mu t ual 2we commit him,like a dead body,to Gadawa. Durga remains near Khod1 dewa.

We worship the great god twice a year— when the new rice comes in,and when 011 1 8

extracted from the Moha . Till worship is performed on these two occas 1ons, we cannot eatthe rice or u se the oil. On these two o ccas1ons it is u su al to fall at the feet of the Pardhan.

Sale-C hangara is the sign of the great god, The great god is represented by an 1ron

spear,and those Gonds who do not possess this sign. worship h1m u nder 3. 8a] tree . We

mu st especially worship the great god, for if we do not, we shall su ffer great calamities .B humka (B h umuk ) is the person who draws r

a line of prot ect 1on round the V illage withcharms, shu ts the mou ths of tigers. ‘ He is intell igent, acts as a physl c1an,and castsou t r dev ils .” There are twelve and a half castes -Raj Gond, Pardhan, K hOPOWQY?s Janwelwal'a

,Thakur,Ku rri Gond, G ondhera,Thathiya,Dubarya,Panka, N agarchl, 031m ,B harra.

Payam ; which last is the half-caste. These do not intermarry,except the Ra] G onds andPardhans .

“In marriage we do not worship any . but the great god, to whom W6 05 6 ? a

fowl or goat. The B humuk officiates . Any clothes,&c ., that had been worn by the dead,we do not keep in ou r house, bu t give to the Pardhans . We do not reverence B rahmms

éWe acknowledge the difference between sin and righteousness,andwe behev e that we mus

giv e an account of our sins after death.

A P P E N D I X IV

Account of the Gonds of Hu tta, in the B ha ndara District,giv en to Mr . Hislopby Gajmj Sing,Zemindar .

GO NDS OF THE BHUNDARA DISTRICT : DECEMBER, 1861 .In the village of Hiri,part of Gajrag’

s Zemindar ee, there are three or fou r G ond hou ses .

One Gond,named Dasaru , is of the Tekam tribe,and a worshipper of fou r gods ; i. e. B udha,who is also called Gagara dewa ; 2,Du la dewa ; 3. Mahad ewa ; 4, Parbati. h e says he doesnot know any Gonds who worship one,two, three, or eight gods, bu t he is acqu ainted withsome who worship fou r,five,six, seven, and n ine. Another G ond of H iri, named Holee,.

is of the Seiyam tribe, and worships seven gods : 1, Budha, or G agara 2,Du la dewa ;3, Sakaliya dewa,4,N irra; 5,Parbat ti ;6,Mahadewa ; and

7,Kalha, in whose name Hinduparents, in performance of a vow made when childless, u sed to p recipitate their eldest son,when he was abou t ten years of age, from the top of the Mahadewa hills. He worshipssix of his gods every year, either on the Dewali in the month of Kartik,when rice is new,or if no t then,on T ij or Akatij (i. e. the3rd) in the month Weishak,when the crop of Mchafl owers is ripe. From this latter date, they begin to extract oil from these fl owers . Theseare u sed as articles of diet by L odhees, Ahirs (i. e. G ow ars), and Gonds, &c .; bu t theyare not so considered by Rajpoots,who s imply bu rn the oil in their lamps. To Mahadewa,Holee offers a he-goat— to Parbati, a she one ; to Du la dewa, as to Mahad ewa ; to N irra,a pig . B udha

,or the great god, is worshipped once in abou t three years. The ceremonies,

including the offering of a cow, are performed at night, while feasting goes on duringthe day. If, in the interval between these triennial feasts, any u nmarried man dies,heis reckoned among the gods, and on that occasion Budha is worshipped . A third Gondin H iri is Kesari Pu j ari,a worshipper of fou r gods, which were enumerated as above, andof the Kumara tribe. There are two kinds of Kumara : one,that offers goats as Well ascows ; the other, to whom goats are an abomination ; and if one shou ld stray into theiryards or compou nds they throw away every chatty ( earthen water pot) . They offer onlyfowls,pigs,and cows.hl arr iage

— is celebrated in any month. In a fl at dish, fu ll of water, they pu t two grainsof r ice,and,naming a day for the marriage, see whether it is su itable by their sinkingor going together. Then t he bride goes about ciying among her relatives, attended by sixto twenty women singing songs this lasts from e1ght to fifteen days,according as relativesare numerou s and distant. Relatives give a l ittle to the bride after this she is annoint edwith haldi,and goes to the village of t he br idegroom with parents, &c . Ou tside of thevillage they stop,and one sets u p a spear in the V 1llage dunghi ll . They are now j oined bythe bridegroom and his party and the you ng couple,standing on the du nghill, the lad takesan iron ring off his own right little finger and puts it on the lass ’,and strikes her on theback with his fist three times. All then proceed to bridegroom’s father’s hou se, wherethe wom en of both sid es, standing in opposite rows, address each other in abu sive songs .

At night they feast in the morning,the bride’s relatives retu rn home, leaving her,The dead are buried at a distance from the village,bu t thapanas (shrines) are erected,

many together fou r stones forming the sides of the thapanas .

A P P E N D I X V .

N ote made byM r,Hislop in October 1862,from information obtained throughSeraj ooddeen N a tiv e Christian.

GONDS or THE CHANDA DISTR ICT.

Gonds bu ry their dead with their faces up . The head may be placed towards any qu arter4o f the heavens,but the wes t. Sons equ ally inherit and if there b e u nmarried daughtersthey receive a share . If without offspring the nephews su cceed. They swear by Bu daDewa by sons, &c . He repeated a part of a song taken at Moharle, abou t Daka DariKesal,Sonlat Kesal,and K atiku ti Kesal. Mention is made of a Shuku rwar tank.

A B hagat is one into.

who se body the B uda Dewa comes ;in this state of inspiration hechmbs the trees and bnngs down B uda Dewa,who near Chanda is called Pharsapen.

At N agbhid mam age arrioh g the R aj Gonds is celebrated, aft er going round in the lanetimes,by the bridegroom taking an iron r ing from a finger of his right hand and pu tting

the bride’s . With the great toe of his left foot, he presses her foot . At Nawargaum,4 coss sou th sou th-west of Chimur, it was related by a Raj Gond Bhumak,that theday before marriage the relatives worship the village god s as Marai

, Bhangarai or BhangaraB ai (female) &c there is a B hangaram (male) also. The Wife comes from one side and thehusband from another and they both stand together in the akad a (place of assembly). Thebridegroom shu ts his hand firmly on an iron ring. The b ride shu ts her hand equ allyfirmly. Then he opens hers by force and pu ts the iron ring on the little finger of her righthand, after which they go to his hou se and dr ink together.

When a person at N ewergaum is killed by a tiger,he gives the relatives no rest,u nlessthey appeas e him with offerings : they go to a creeper named Phasi— present to it,by a Weidh,or pu j ari, (priest) dheep,vermilion,and kill a chicken,male or female ,according to the sex ofthe‘ person that had been' killed, and bu ry it there, after w hich they go round the tree 5times The pu j ari then dismisses them, telling them not to look back (does he take ou tthe chicken After all are gone,he repeats a mantra, ( incantation) and with one blow of hishand breaks the creeper,and leaves,him self not looking back. For the protection of cattleK olasu r is worshipped by Marathas with vermilion only ; bu t by Gonds who reckon himtheir d eity,with a young cock and daru (spirits). At N agbhid,according to Katu ,a Raj Gondof 7 gods,there is a chain with 7 bells (gagari) of bell metal, according to the number ofgods. This is kept in an earthen vessel and hung u p by a rope round the neck or mou thto the bough of a tree . It is taken down once in one or t wo years, by the Bhagat,whenw orship is to be pe rformed, and a goat or fowl offe red. A ku tha,or song, the beginning ofwhich was taken down by Serajoodeen at Moharle 18 miles north of Chanda, is abou tChohan Raja, whose father w as Jado Malhari, Jado Malhari

s wife was Naga Moti. Chohan.Raja’s wife was Maia Motl. Their daughter was Padmawanti. The Mohamedan Emperor ofDelhi first sent a Bhat,who took the young lady ’s portrait,and on showing it to the Emperor,ih e latter was so smitten that he sent an army of Pathan s like a cloud, to take her byerce .

A P P E N D I X V L

N ote taken by M r . H islop in Jnlg 1856,f rom information obtained throughAppaga N a tiv e Chr istian.

THE KURKU S .

fi ppayatma‘

de his enqu iries near Asirgad and B ait u l on the noth-west of Nagpore . The .

Ku rku s acknowledge that there is one inv isible Su preme Being whom they call B hagawanj ee z— perhaps having borrowed this opinion from t he Hindu s . B u t aft er reaping their.crops of rice they sacrifice a goat, fowl&c ., to Su ltan Sakada who is supposed to hav e beensome King among them in former times . These at As1rgad say that the Zemindars or Thaku rsat the Mahad ewa hills worship Shiwa for ‘ them, as well as themselves. When a mandies,his family,if in the rains,bu ry him,if at other seas ons they bu rn his body and aft erwardsoffer a goat,when they set up a. rude wooden image,of the deceased near the v illage at aplace appointed for the reception of all su ch representations. The image is abou t 2 feet.abov e the ground of this shape Ll

The deceased seems to be worshipped onlythe first year for protection .

For marriage days are requ ired . On the first day the relatives of the bridegroom go.to the bride’s hou se and bring her to her in tend ed hu sband’s house. On the 2ud day theytie together the garments of the two and cau se them to j oin hands and to run seven t 1mes

ro und a mohwa tree after wh ich they are condu cted to the bower (mandap) prepared at thehu sbands hou se. Then they ai e reminded of their having been knotted together and thathenceforth they mu st not be separated, after which all feast and drink,and one hav mglifted the hu sband and another the w ife on their backs they dance .

Their employment is to cu t down the jungle with a bamboo stick to . sow Ku tki (pu lse)on the hills and with a plough to sow rice on the planes and make tatties of bamboos .

Before marriage a man is sent to enqu ir e abou t a bride. The parents of the bridegroomgive for the bride,to her parents Rs . 10or Rs . 20. The marriage which takes place betweenparties of the age of 16 to 20is consumated in a day. In the morning abou t 7 a bowerhaving been erected near the hou se of the bridegroom the two young people are led into itand made to stand up together,and from the top of the bower,dash on their heads a chatty(pitcher) of water. A fter which they pu t on dry clothes when having been seated all thepeople pu t rice on their heads, and the marriage is completed by an exhortation from theparents. The whole day and night,they eat,drink and dance .After aman is dead they kil l and offer to the body a fowl. The corpse is then pu t on atatty and placed on the shou lders of fou r young strong men . All the neighbou rs placingon the ground a handfu l of r ice,call to mind their own dead forefathers, and tu rning tothe corpse place on it some rice,remarking that now he has become god and adjure him, ifdeath had came o f god’s will to accu s e no one,bu t if death had been caused by witchcraft,t o point ou t the gu ilty party. Sometimes it is said,there is su ch a pressu re exerted on theshou lders of the bearers,that they are pu shed forward and gu ided by the corpse to somehou se. The inmate is not seized at once,bu t if other three times the corpse retu rns afterbeing taken some distance back, he is apprehended and expelled from the village. Thecorpse is then carried to a tree to wh ich it is tied u pright and bu rned. (Apaya does notknow about burying) Then they begin to collect money for a funeral feast which is celebratedin a year or 1 8 months, from the time of the cremation. Repairing to the spot where thebody was bu rned,they and the neighbou rhood surr ound it with a tatty, (grass screen) inwhich they stick wooden spears,while a flag is fixed to the tree,and at a chupper (thatchedroof) bu ilt for the pu rpose, they sacrifice a fowl. Thereafter they retu rn to the hou seof the deceased,and having killed a goat,&c .,make a feast, and if the deceased was poorthey continu e for a day, if rich for three days with mu sic and dancing. The dancing isperfo rmed by a string of men on one side and of women on the other, approaching andreced ing. On that occasion, it is no sin for a v irgin to be guilty of fo rnication, though it iscarefu lly forbidden at other times Six or sever. years aft er they carry a stone or anyremaining bones of the deceas ed t o his original v illage,and set up the one and bu ry theother. Then they offer and sacrifice,and feast the V illagers when they conclud e that thedeceas ed has been j oined to or absorbed in the great god.In m aking salu tation the Mades say juwar and seem to live at peace among themselves

They are hospitable to strangers,and honest,and never go into a man ’s hou se in his absence.In the hot weather they remain in V i llages,bu t at the commencement of the monsoon,theyseparate to their variou s patches of cu lt ivation,where they live night and day. If a married woman is convicted of adu ltery,she is kill ed by her hu sband. Both hu sband and wifemay marry again.

Names of men,Mang u,Bheia,Karya,Bh u riya,L alu ,Somiya, B iriya, K u tmanj l,Tengama,L ebu du,N awalu,Des aro , Tiya, Pakaru,Warlu,Bursu,Newaru,Sonu .

Names of women,Rukmi, L ingi, Lidi Kali, Tomi,Mangi,Sukali,Mas i. Langadi,Dumi,Semi.

Names of Marias on eas t frontier of Ru star supplied by Captain C . E lliot,from Enstar

June 1857.Men, O dhi, Gasiya, Magadu , Wakaru , Chirke,Mugu l, Ramah, Gade, Boyal, B odka,

K u tha, Chirka, Surka, Ju dahal, Padaru , Sum aru, Dusmi, Sunal, Kadi, Dhod i, Higal,Adharu, Jaliyal, Madhal, Badal,K acharu, Lakhmal,Gagaru,Bakal, Pichke, Dehla, B upu,Malal,G edi,Bikal, G ubada,Bira, Jhitku,Masial,Dorge,Mu lal,Kodal,Chatu,Miral.Women— H inge,Judahi,Dukari,Rame, Gagad e, Kani, B eishaki, Koeli, Ratnal, Rage,

Sukadi,Kado.The following information,regarding the marriage of the same B ustar people, was fur

nished with the above names . When they are going to celebrate a mar riage, they sprinkle(asayet) on the goddess Mata, and the god Bhima and anoint them with oil and saffronwhich two last are carried from their deities to anoint the bride and bridegroom,who are

then dressed in the u su al coarse cloth of the country,and a yellow thread is tied round theirWrist. Goats are killed and arrack is drunk,u ntil the company are intoxicated. The brideand bridegroom also share in the liqu or, Gondi songs are sung, accompanied with mu src .

Arbou rs are constru cted at the hous es of both bride and bridegroom ; and ou t of a vesselfu ll of water hung up in the bride’s arbour,water is sprink led on the two and their clothesare tied together ; and seven times they run rou nd a pole erected in the mandawa (bower).

Description of the cu stoms of the Made’s as obtained by V irapa V enkatachalam,January1 858 from the Pate l of Waigaum 4; coss north of Adupalli (Arperlli) who is a Made,thoughhis people liv e more to the east.

Marriage among them does not take place till the age of maturity . The bridegroom is

expected to give dowry to the parents of the bride,amounting sometimes to Rupees At

the marriage feast which lasts for fou r days,fou r pigs,two goat s,rice,j owari,and daru (spirits)are consumed. There is mu ch dancing among the boys and girls, to the sound of the tom-tom

(drum). There is no bower,bu t the bridegroom ‘

and bride sit in the open air,near the bridegroom’s father’s door, surrounded by the spectators. Females, till their marriage, wear nocovering over the 11 1per part of their body.As soon as a person expires, his eyes are closed and his body washed,which is then carried

to the jungle and fastened u pright by three ropes to the trunk of a tree . Firewood isbrought and the body is bu rned amid the weeping of the . relatives and loud wailing of theothers.Some worship 7, some 6, some 5, some 4 gods . They have one great festival at the be

ginning of the monsoon before they sow their crops,when they repair to a hill on the top ofwhich they set u p stones in a row to represent the number of their gods,— dau b them withvermilion and present to them cakes, (pu ria) of ricefiou r, ghu l (su gar) and ghi (clarified bu tter)on teak leaves, rice pu lse and darn . They then kill a pig, a goat or shee p,and a cock,whoseblood they sprinkle before their deities,and their bodies they take hom e along with the otherofferings . to make merry at their homes. They then sow millet and maize .W

'orship is performed before the marriage ceremony . In the morning at the do or of the cowhou se,they set up a 1 ow of stones,which had been carefu lly washed,each abou t 4 inches highbu t one in the middle, t o represent the great god being somewhat larger, They pass athread round all,and pu t a sectarial mark (black.)made of charcoal and oil, (Their own marksare of a white colou r formed from a whit e stone r ubbed down ). A lota (brass p o t) is placedin front of the big god into which each married woman drops four cowries They offer bade(cakes of black mung, onion, ghi and salt,) rice,kill a hen,bu rn incense,and sprinkle waterthree times,when they retire to the hou se,the cowries being the chief property of the chiefman am ong them and the fowl being divided. At noon the marriage commences . Charcoalis mixed with a qu antity of water and pou red with a brass pot on the heads and bodies of thebride and bridegroom,after which they are dried and clean clothes being pu t on them, andthe bridegroom having received from head man a dagger (katar) which he holds in his handall the time from day to day,th ey are seated at the bridegroom ’s door with the corner oftheir garments knotted to each other and each receives a white mark on the forehead . Next,turmeric and water are mixed with lime in a brass plate,which is tu rned red by the limeand carried to the bride’s three times as a present and thrown away on the road. Theelder people are seated near,and mu sic and dancing among the u nmarried youths of boths exes are kept up beyond two or three hou rs. In the evening at the sound of the drumthe people again assemble and a similar ceremony is gone through for a like period of time.E arly next morn ing they assemble for similar pu rposes and before they part they have a mealtogether on pigs,&c .,and daru (sp irits) . At noon when they assemble there is no repast orpresent ; bu t in the evening and du ring the continu ance of the marriage,all the people live atthe expense of the bride’s and bridegroom’s parents.The Mades have good features They eat anything inclu ding beef. They reckon themselves higher than Gonds and w ill not allow Mahars to tou ch them as the Gonds do . Madesand Gonds dont eat from each others hands,the G onds and Kolamis at Manikgad will do so.E ight coss to north of Weiragad is a hill call ed Sonsari. The Zemindar of the district

(Janu ary 1853when we visitedWeiragad) was Ku j a B apoo of the Halba tribe . The inhabitantsare Mades,from whose hands Raj Gonds will not eat In the Made villages east of Weiragad there are generally less than five hou ses i one sometimes being a. G owali’s . They Wearcloth round the loins,and a roomal or kerchief.

(av / ax fi f ax/ A

ffi rm “ 54“ 1

We glean some in teresting particulars fromC olonél‘Haig

’s narrat ive o f a j ourney in sceich of a p racticawlble l in e of road from t he G odav ery to Jugd ulpo or,the"head quar ters of the E aste r country. JHe found in

su rmountable obstacles t o sthe constru ction of a goodtraffi c road, as the country was one v as t fores t, long"reache s of which were absolutely deserted by e v eryl ivmg thing . N o t a beast,s carce even a bird was to be

s een, and the path once m issed the t raveller mightwander for d ays and‘ev en‘

perish before a humanhabitation c ou ld be ' reached. Approaching the capital,bu t at some d is tance from it,a t the foot of an ext ens rv e tract o f elevated country, he came u pon the s i te 7of the l ong des erted hamlet of K ondasail i and saw i

in i ts vicini ty a double r ow of . large s labs of s toneplaced v ertical ]y in the ground, and mark ing the lastrest ing-places of the dead belonging t o a tu be or race 5of whom the traveller in the G o dav ery

' districts hasas yet no knowledge. These s t riking memorials ind icate t h e cl ose proxim ity of a tribe which,is olatedfor centuries in the hilly country abov e, has by suc l

cess iv e emigration peopled the low lands,and retained cus toms unaltered which change of place and con-f .tact with other races ha v e oblitera t ed in it s d esc endants. Ascending the hi l l ranges from tofee t abov e s ea level, th is is olated tu be, the KoiThor,is met W i th. I t 18 probably descended fromthos e hordes of Indo-Scyth ians, the T akshak s,whoover-ran the country ages befor e the consolidat ion ofthe solar and lunar dynasties in N orthern l ndia,or themore recent immigrat ions of the same race prev iousto th e in v as ion o f Alexander. - Only in the immen i

diate v icin ity of Jugd u lpcor do the women wear anything more than a s trip of cloth round the middle.The cold in Winter is s ev ere,and the people habitually s leep be tween two fires s cars on the

breas t, stomach and b ack of both men

and women being cau sed by cont ac t W iththe hot embers during s leep. Still, compared .

with t he degenarate population of the low lands,theK ol-Thors are and hard ies t of the race.Th ey -are larger,more ' muscular,and more h ealthy.

look ing ‘than the inhabitan ts of f the plains . Theyare even s aid to be more cleanly in the ir habits butone circumstance is noted, which shows that the

s t ruggle for l ife is perhaps more difficult in a savagethan in a ci v ilis ed community. They univ ersallyweara tight c ord or rather rope round the be lly,whichcompresses the intestines in a most unsight lymanner.l t

c onSis t s"

of eleven strands u ntwist ed of s trong l

cord like whip cord . A t one end is a loop,and at'

the other' three knots . I t is fastened by s implypassing the loop o v er one of these kno ts . Thefas tening i s made to the end k noc at mea ls, at other ]t imes on the midd le kno t,and du ring a. j ou rney on

the highes t kno t . Th e leng th from the loop to the

m iddle kno t is abou t 25 inches,so tha t the whole ofthe lower intest ines of a large and powerful man are

hab itu ally compressed W ithin ( a circle 8 inches indiameter 1 The hab it arises from the support orpart ial relief wh ich tight compression gives to

t hat" part of the body during p eriods of pro 1longed hunger to wh ich this unhappy peop le Jare much subj ect. 1

gates,the K bis,B ondha ‘

Purjas, andMatiyas;ach of which no t onlyhas peculiar manners

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