CHAPTER CXLVIII.
INDIA.
THE SOWRAHS AND KHONDS.
LOCALITY OF THE SOWRAH TRIBE — GENERAL APPEARANCE — THE TARTAR CHARACTER OF THE FEATURES — DRESS OF THE MEN, THEIR SCANTY COSTUME AND PLENTIFUL ORNAMENTS — CURIOUS EAR-RINGS — DRESS OF THE WOMEN — MODE OF OBTAINING CLOTHES FOR WINTER USE — WEAPONS OF THE SOWRAHS — THEIR COURAGE, AND THE APPREHENSION WHICH THEY EXCITE — A SOWRAH WEDDING — RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF THE SOWRAHS — THEIR TRUTHFULNESS — THE KHONDS — DRESS AND APPEARANCE — THE KHOND POCKET — FEATURES OF THE WOMEN — THE MERIAH SACRIFICE AND ITS OBJECT — PROCURING OF THE VICTIM — VARIOUS MODES OF PERFORMING THE SACRIFICE — SUBSTITUTE FOR THE MERIAH — STRANGE USE OF BRACELETS — THE MERIAHS’ INDIFFERENCE TO THEIR FATE — INFANTICIDE — WEAPONS OF THE KHONDS — DEATH OF A BEAR — PRIDE OF THE KHONDS — SUPERSTITION — BELIEF IN THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION — A KHOND MARRIAGE.
The reader may remember that the Andaman Islands trench closely upon the shores of India, thus bringing closely together the two phases of utter savagery that never has advanced in the scale of humanity, and of a civilization which has advanced to the utmost limits of which it is capable. In the following pages I propose to give a brief account of various phases of Indian life, throwing most emphasis upon those which trench least upon civilization, as being most akin to the objects of this work.
From the figures which illustrate this country, and which are all taken from photographs, the reader will notice the very distinct type of man which is exhibited throughout India; and though in some of the tribes there is a facial resemblance to the Australian type, and in others to the Mongolian, it is impossible to mistake an entire figure in either instance. We will begin with those parts of India which are the least civilized, and in which the inhabitants retain most of their aboriginal manners and customs.
There is a remarkable hill tribe of India which deserves a short description, as the people seem to have preserved the original characteristics of their race better than any other inhabitants of the country. They are called Sowrahs, and live in a tract of country about lat. 18° 30´ N., and long. 72° 30´ E.
The Sowrahs are a tolerably good-looking tribe, some of the girls being even handsome, were not their faces disfigured by the nose rings, of which one woman will often wear three. The men, as is the case with all the Indian tribes, are slenderly built, and appear to be devoid of muscles, especially in the legs. This apparent slightness, however, conceals great muscular power, as has often been shown in the skirmishes which their predatory habits constantly entail upon them. In one of these skirmishes, a Sowrah who had been taken prisoner suddenly snatched a bayonet out of the hands of his captor, and bent the blade double.
There is about the features of the Sowrahs a decidedly Tartar look, which increases with age, and is marked most strongly in the men. Some photographs of them now before me exhibit this characteristic very distinctly marked, and in one case so strongly that, but for color and the mode of dressing the hair, the face might easily be mistaken for those of a genuine Tartar. Indeed, Mr. Hooper, from whose paper this account is condensed, thinks that they may have a Tartar origin.
One remarkable point about the Sowrahs is, that they have no distinction of caste, though they are divided into two distinct classes, the Hill Sowrahs and the Sowrahs of the Plain. The latter are comparatively civilized, and live in villages, and it is only of the former that this work will treat.
The dress of the Sowrahs is primitive enough. The men wear nothing but the “languti,” i. e. a narrow strip of cloth passing round the waist, through the legs, and tucked into the waistband. They are, however, very fond of ornaments, though they care so little about dress, and have their necks loaded with beads, and their ears and nostrils filled with rings. A photograph of one of these men shows that he is wearing no less than twenty-seven bead necklaces, as well as a broad brass collar. Besides the ordinary ear-rings, he wears an ornament which seems rather popular among the Sowrahs. A hole is bored in the upper part of the ear, and through it is passed one end of a string almost four inches in length, to the other end of which is attached a glittering bead about as large as a walnut. Some of the Sowrahs also thread small beads upon the string.
The hair of the men is allowed to grow to a considerable length, and on festival days it is gathered into a knot at the back of the head, and adorned with feathers, mostly those of the peacock. This mode of dressing the hair gives a very effeminate look to the countenance, and on seeing a photograph of the face alone, especially if it be that of a young man, it is not very easy at a hasty glance to discover whether it is the portrait of a man or woman.
The dress of the women consists of a cloth wrapped round the waist. Those women who have been photographed wear long calico cloths wrapped round them from shoulder to knee after the ordinary Indian fashion; but it is evident that they have borrowed these cloths for the occasion, and so, after the custom of all uncivilized people, have contrived, through anxiety to look their best, to baffle the real object of the photographer, i. e. to represent them as they really appear. Like the men, they wear an abundance of necklaces, and also are fond of simple bracelets, consisting of broad metal bands wound spirally round the wrists. The hair is parted down the middle, but no particular care is expended upon it.
When the colder weather comes on, and the Sowrahs want more clothing, they do not make it, but have recourse to the simple plan of waylaying travellers, killing them, and taking their garments. In these robberies, as well as in the skirmishes to which they often tend, the Sowrahs chiefly use the bow and arrow. The bow is a comparatively weak one, only being a yard or so in length, and having a string made of the outer coating of the bamboo. The arrows are of reed, armed with a flat, many-barbed iron head. The Sowrahs always lie in wait for their victims, and direct their aim at the stomach and legs, so that the wounds are always dangerous, and generally mortal.
They also carry a kind of battle-axe. They are a brave as well as a warlike people, and are the terror of the inhabitants of the plains. Even the Khonds, who will be presently described, ready as they are to fight among each other, and skilled as they are in the use of the bow and the battle-axe, stand in awe of the Sowrahs, and do not like to be drawn into a quarrel with them. They are especially afraid of these enemies, because the favorite mode of attack with the Sowrahs is to make a raid under cover of night, and, after securing all the plunder they can seize, and doing all the harm in their power, to return to their hill fastnesses as rapidly as they issued from them.
General Campbell thinks that their mode of life may have something to do with this superiority, and that their more abstemious and less dissipated life renders them stronger and more enduring than their self-indulgent neighbors. In some places, Sowrahs and Khonds dwell together in tolerable amity, but both of the tribes, although they may derive their origin from the same source, and both assert themselves to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the land, and to have a right to its possession, preserve their own characteristic differences so rigidly that there is no difficulty in distinguishing a Sowrah from a Khond.
The ceremony of marriage among the Sowrahs, illustrated on the following page, is thus described by Mr. Hooper: “A young man, or his friends for him, having selected a bride, messengers are sent to her parents, and finally the young man goes, bearing a pot of toddy, or other present. If the consent of the parents is obtained, the ceremony is commenced by fixing three posts in the ground, between which the bride and bridegroom, with their respective friends, assemble, and a feast is commenced at which nearly every person gets drunk upon toddy.
“The bride and bridegroom sit together, while turmeric water is poured on their heads. Presents of cloth, beads, rings, etc., are exchanged, fowls, and if possible sheep, are sacrificed to propitiate the demons, and the flesh is then cooked, made up into balls with some sort of grain, and distributed among the party. On these occasions they all join in a dance, which seems to consist principally in hopping from one leg to the other, at each movement snapping their fingers and uttering an ejaculation, while at intervals the whole of the dancers come bumping together, and then separate.
“If the parents of the bride refuse to consent to the marriage, it frequently happens that the friends of the bridegroom watch their opportunity, and if the girl is found alone, they seize and carry her off. The relatives of the girl then pursue and attack the opposite party, but, even though successful in retaking her, they are prohibited by their customs from giving her in marriage to any one else. Should such a thing be attempted, the parties would have to fight it out in a more serious manner with bows and arrows.”
(1.) A SOWRAH MARRIAGE.
(See page 1386.)
(2.) MERIAH SACRIFICE.
(See page 1391.)
The reader will doubtless recognize the similarity of these marriage rites to those which are practised by savage tribes in many parts of the world.
In the account of the wedding, the propitiation of the demons is mentioned. This is the key to their religious system, such as it is, and explains the reason for the absence of caste. The Sowrahs of the Plains seem to have a rather better religious system, but that of the Hill Sowrahs is simply demonolatry. They seem to have but little notion of worship, the only ceremonies which have been observed taking place at harvest time. When the crops reach maturity, the owners set small stones upright in the earth as emblems of the presiding demons, and lay before them little heaps of each crop. After the offerings have remained there for some little time, they are consumed at a feast to which the proprietor of the crops invites his relatives and friends.
When a Sowrah dies, his body is burned, the ashes buried, and a small building erected over the spot. Five days after the burial a pot of toddy is laid on the grave, round which are placed a number of leaves representing the ancestors of the deceased. A little toddy is poured upon each leaf, and the remainder is drunk by the people who have assisted at the ceremony. A somewhat similar rite, but accompanied with feasting, is celebrated at the end of the first and fourth years after burial.
According to General Campbell, they do not destroy their female infants, as is done by too many of the Indian tribes, neither do they practise human sacrifice. Yet they will sometimes participate in the remarkable Meriah sacrifice, which will presently be described, and will travel some distance to do so. They do not, however, seem to attach very great importance to the rite, and when General Campbell remonstrated with them on the subject, they at once promised to abandon it, and not even to be present as spectators.
Perhaps the most characteristic trait of the Sowrahs is their absolute truthfulness, which, according to Mr. Hooper, is the result from their want of capacity to invent a lie.
THE KHONDS.
In the now renowned district of Orissa live the remarkable tribes called Khonds, who, like the Sowrahs, appear to be immediately descended from the aboriginal inhabitants, and to have retained, though in a somewhat modified form, several of the customs of their savage forefathers, the chief of which will be briefly described.
The Khonds are active, wiry, and of much darker complexion than the inhabitants of the plains, and neither sex trouble themselves much about clothing. The men wear a few yards of coarse cotton round their waists, a separate piece dyed red hanging down behind like a tail. Their hair is allowed to grow to its full length, and is twisted round and round the head, and fastened in a knot in front, in which the Khond always keeps a few cigars made of tobacco rolled in a green leaf. He generally decorates this top-knot with a piece of red cloth and feathers.
The women wear a rather large cloth round their loins, and decorate themselves with vast quantities of beads and other ornaments, among which the most conspicuous are some heavy bracelets, which are little more than thick brass bands twined round their wrists. Among some of the tribes, these ornaments are put to a very tragical use, as we shall presently see. Slips of red cloth are considered very fashionable ornaments by the Khond women, and in some cases strings of copper coins are worn by way of necklaces. These, however, are mostly reserved for the children. There is some excuse for the anxiety of the Khond women to make the best of themselves, as they are very inferior to the men in appearance, being short, stumpy, and so plain in features, that they are pronounced by General Campbell to be absolutely repulsive. Some photographs, however, which are now before me, do not give this impression. Perhaps these women were selected for their good looks.
They are divided into many tribes, and as a rule live in villages varying in population from forty to ten times the number. We will now proceed to the manners and customs of the Khond tribes.
Throughout the whole of Khondistan there is a system of human sacrifice, varying exceedingly in detail according to the locality, but agreeing in all principal points. There is one point especially which seems to be the very essence of the sacrifice, and which is common to all the tribes. The victim, or Meriah, must be bought with a price. Should a captive be taken in war, he may not be offered as a Meriah by his captor, but he may be sold for that purpose, and will then be accepted by the priests.
There is no restriction of age, sex, or caste, but adults are thought more acceptable because they are more costly, and the healthy more likely to propitiate the gods than the sick or feeble. That the Meriah should be sacrificed is thought an absolutely necessary condition for the prosperity of every undertaking, but especially for the growth of the crops, and the Khonds therefore use every endeavor to secure a succession of victims. Sometimes they purchase children from their parents or relations when they have fallen into poverty, but, as a rule, they are stolen by a set of robber tribes called Pannoos, who decoy them into the hills, seize them, and sell them to the Khonds. It is rather remarkable that although the Khonds avail themselves of the services of the Pannoos, and are very glad to purchase victims, they bear an intense hatred and contempt toward them, and, except in the way of business, will have no dealings with them.
The Meriah victims have no reason to complain of their lot, with the one exception that it must soon come to an end. They are well fed and kindly treated, and, with the ruling fatalism of the Oriental character, generally resign themselves to their fate, and make no efforts to escape. Often a Meriah girl is married to a Khond man, and allowed to live until she has borne children. These, as well as herself, are liable to be sacrificed, but must never be offered in the village wherein they were born. In order to avoid this difficulty, the various towns agree to exchange their Meriah children.
The mode of sacrificing the Meriah is so exceedingly variable that it will be necessary to give a short abstract of the various modes.
In the first place, the Meriah must always be sacrificed openly in the sight of the people, and this rule is absolute throughout all the land.
In Goomsur, the sacrifice is offered to the Earth-god, Tado Pennor, who is represented by the emblem of a peacock. When the time is fixed, the victim is selected, and for a month there is much rejoicing, feasting, and dancing round the Meriah, who is abundantly supplied with food and drink, and is in all appearance as merry and unconcerned as any of the people. On the day previous to the sacrifice a stout pole is set up, having on its top the peacock emblem of Tado Pennor, and to it is bound the Meriah. The people then dance round him, saying, in their chants, that they do not murder the victim, but sacrifice one who was bought with a price, and that therefore no sin rests with them. As the Meriah is previously intoxicated with toddy, he can give no answer, and his silence is taken as consent to his sacrifice.
Next day he is anointed with oil, and carried round the village, after which he is brought to the peacock post, at the foot of which is a small pit. A hog is then killed, and the blood poured into the pit and mixed with the soil, so as to form a thick mud. The Meriah, who has been previously made senseless from intoxication, is thrown into the pit, with his face pressed into the mire until he is dead. The officiating priest or zani then cuts off a small piece of the flesh of the victim and buries it near the pit, as an offering to the earth, and, as soon as he has done so, all the spectators rush upon the body, hack it to pieces, and carry off the fragments to bury them in their fields as a propitiation to the earth deities who produce the crops. Revolting as this custom is, it is much more merciful than most modes of Meriah sacrifice, inasmuch as suffocation is not a death involving much physical pain, and the victim has been previously deprived of his senses.
In Boad, the Meriah is taken round the village, when every one tries to procure one of his hairs, or to touch his lips with their fingers so that they may anoint their heads with the sacred moisture. After being drugged into insensibility, he is taken to the fatal spot, where he is strangled by placing his neck between the two halves of a split bamboo, the ends of which are then brought together by the priests. The head priest next breaks the bones of the arms and legs with his axe, and when he has done so, the body is cut to pieces as in Goomsur.
In Chinna Kimeday a grotesquely cruel mode of sacrifice is employed. In lieu of the peacock which is used at Goomsur, a large wooden figure of an elephant is placed on the post, and revolves on a pivot. The Meriah is tied to the extended proboscis of the elephant, and, amid the yells of the spectators, is whirled round as fast as the figure can be turned. In this case the Meriah is not drugged. At a signal from the officiating zani, the crowd rush on the Meriah with their knives, and in a few moments hack him to pieces as he is tied, still living, on the elephant.
General Campbell, while executing his mission of mercy in Khondistan, saw as many as fourteen of their elephant images, all of which he caused to be pulled down and destroyed by the baggage elephants attached to his force, so that the Khonds might see that those venerated emblems of a cruel worship were powerless even against the animals which they simulated. His task was naturally a difficult one, as it involved the abolition of a rite which had existed from time immemorial, and which no amount of reasoning could persuade them to be wrong, much less criminal. So deeply was it ingrained in their nature, that their only idea of his object in setting free so many hundred Meriahs was, that he might sacrifice them on his own account, in order to bring back water into a large tank which he was thought to have constructed for the use of his elephants.
In this very place, a most singular circumstance occurred. The English officer was told that a sacrifice was being actually performed, the victim being a young and handsome girl, only fifteen or sixteen years old. He instantly started off with an armed party, and found the offering of the Meriah already complete, and nothing wanting but the actual sacrifice. The aged priest was ready to give the signal, and the surrounding people were mad with excitement, when the armed party came to the rescue, and demanded the girl. The Khonds, furious as they were, found that they dared not risk a collision, and so the party retired with the rescued victim.
The remainder of the story has yet to be told. Scarcely were the English soldiers out of sight than the assembled Khonds broke out into loud murmurings at their disappointment. At last one of them hit upon a happy thought. “Why,” said he, “should we be debarred from our sacrifice? See our aged priest. Seventy summers have passed over his head—what further use is he? Let us sacrifice him.” And forthwith the old man was tied on the elephant, spun round, and cut to pieces.
In Maji Deso another mode of sacrifice is employed. They do not keep a large supply of Meriahs, as do most of the tribes, but buy them immediately before the sacrifice. The consequence is, that it is very difficult to detect them, except in the very act of offering the victim. Their mode of killing the Meriah is as follows. The Khonds surround the victim, and beat him on the head with the heavy metal bracelets, which they are in the habit of wearing. Mostly they kill him in this way, but if they fail in doing so, they strangle him with a split bamboo, as has already been described. The flesh of the back is then cut into long and narrow strips, and each person carries off a strip and suspends it on a pole, which he thrusts into the bed of the stream which waters his fields.
In Patna, the mode of sacrifice varies exceedingly. In some cases the victim is stoned, in others beaten to death with bamboos, together with other barbarous modes of putting to death. General Campbell remarks, that in this district there are places where sacrificing and non-sacrificing tribes inhabit the same village. They live harmoniously together until the time of sacrifice, when the non-sacrificing tribes retire to their houses, and never pass through the front door of their dwellings until seven days are over, and the remains of the Meriah buried. After that time, all goes on as usual, until the next sacrifice takes place.
Bundari appears to be the place where the people adhere most firmly to the Meriah system. When General Campbell visited this district, they refused to give up the Meriah, and on the near approach of his force, fled to their hiding-places in the mountains. As he approached Bundari, he found that the people had been actually offering a sacrifice, and that they had gone off in such haste that they had left behind them the sacrificial post with the head of a victim hanging to it by the hair, and the fatal knife suspended beside it. The mode of sacrifice employed in this district is thus described:—
“The sacrifice which had taken place, and which is called Junnah, is performed as follows, and is always succeeded by the sacrifice of three other human victims, two to the sun to the east and west, and one in the centre, with the usual barbarities. A stout wooden post is firmly fixed in the ground. At the foot of it a narrow grave is dug, and to the top of the post the victim is firmly fastened by the long hair of his head. Four assistants hold his outstretched arms and legs, the body being suspended horizontally over the grave, with the face toward the earth. The officiating zani, or priest, standing on the right side, repeats the following invocation, at intervals hacking with his sacrificing knife the back part of the shrieking victim’s neck:—
“‘O mighty Manicksoro, this is your festal day (to the Khonds the sacrifice is Meriah, to the Rajahs, Junnah). On account of this sacrifice you have given to Rajahs countries, guns, and swords. The sacrifice we now offer, you must eat; and we pray that our battle-axes may be turned into swords, and our bows and arrows into gunpowder and balls, and if we have any quarrels with other tribes, give us the victory, and preserve us from the tyranny of Rajahs, and other officers.’
“Then, addressing the victim, he added, ‘that we may enjoy prosperity, we offer you a sacrifice to our god Manicksoro, who will immediately eat you, so be not grieved at our slaying you. Your parents were aware when we purchased you from them for sixty gunties (articles) that we did it with intent to sacrifice you; there is, therefore, no sin on our heads, but on those of your parents. After you are dead, we shall perform your obsequies.’”
This speech being concluded, the head of the victim is severed from the body, and allowed to hang from the post until it is eaten by wild beasts. The knife is also suspended from the post, and allowed to remain there until the three additional sacrifices have been offered, when it is removed with many ceremonies. Eight of these posts were found in the village, and were all destroyed.
It is this mode of sacrifice which is shown in the illustration on page 1387. In the centre is seen the aged priest in the act of sacrificing the Meriah, which in this case is a young girl. Her head is supported by her long hair, which is tied to the top of the post, and her body is held horizontally by the four assistants, who each grasp a hand or a foot. On the right hand is shown a post, to which hangs the head of the first sacrificed Meriah, and on the other side is another victim bound by the hair to the post, waiting until the priest had completed the sacrifice in which he is engaged.
One circumstance connected with the Meriah sacrifice is rather remarkable, namely, the indifference to their fate that seems to possess the victims. One young man, a Meriah, said that it was better to be sacrificed among his own people, and to give them pleasure, than to live upon the plains. The natives believe that this indifference is caused by the Meriah food, a mixture of rice, turmeric, and other ingredients, prepared with certain magical ceremonies. Even the Meriahs themselves have this belief. For example, three young women were hired by a seller of salt fish to carry his goods among the Khonds, and when he got them there, the treacherous dealer sold not only the fish but the women. Twice the victims attempted to escape, but were recaptured, and after the second attempt, the Khonds fed them on Meriah food, when they became reconciled to their fate, and made no further efforts to escape.
Other ties seem to have their effect on the Meriahs. Sometimes a man wishes to buy a Meriah, that being a very meritorious act; but the cost is so great, amounting on an average to sixty-five rupees, that the Khond is almost reduced to poverty. Under such circumstances, he is unable to marry, inasmuch as he cannot pay the heavy price which is demanded of a bridegroom. Accordingly, he buys a Meriah girl, and takes her as his wife until the time when she may be required for sacrifice.
It has already been mentioned that children are sold by their parents as Meriahs. This seems so cruel and heartless a system, that some explanation ought to be offered. It is very seldom that such a purchase is made, unless the parents be very poor, and fear that they shall not be able to provide their children with food. In such cases they argue that it is better for the child to be nourished and kindly treated, and then to die as a sacrifice to the deities, than to perish by degrees of starvation. Moreover, it is considered rather a meritorious action for a parent to devote a child to the gods, and, when it is done, the parents are very proud of such children, and regard them with respect and admiration as belonging to the deities.
Another reason for the continuance of the Meriah sacrifice is the slight regard in which the Khonds hold human life, sacrificing that which we consider as priceless because they are indifferent to it, not only with regard to others, but with regard to themselves.
That the custom of propitiating the deities of agriculture with living sacrifices should be entirely abolished could not be expected, and General Campbell found that the best mode of extinguishing human sacrifice was to induce the Khonds to substitute that of a beast. This was done in many cases, the sacrificers apologizing to the god for the substitution, and begging him, if he should be angry, to vent his wrath, not upon them, but upon the foreigner who had suggested the alteration. He had no objection to this arrangement, and as the crops turned out well afterward, it was to be supposed that all parties, the gods included, were satisfied.
A very similar custom was once prevalent among certain tribes of the Lower Amazon. The name of these tribes was Tapuyos, but this title has now been given to all the inhabitants of the Lower Amazon district. Prisoners taken in war by them were reserved for sacrifice. They were treated with extreme kindness, fed in the most liberal manner, so that they might be plump and fat, and were provided with wives. They were generally allowed to live for several years, until their wives had borne children. They were then taken to the place of sacrifice, and killed with a single blow of a club; their children being carefully reared, for the purpose of undergoing a similar fate after they had grown up.
Even without reference to the Meriah system, the Khonds are in the habit of killing their female children. This custom has arisen partly from the fear of poverty, and partly from the system on which marriages are conducted. The Khonds dislike marrying among themselves, and seek their wives among distant tribes, alleging as a reason that they can purchase them at a cheaper rate. But General Campbell tried to show them that if they were to rear their own female children, they would find them much cheaper as wives, and recommended them, as a beginning, to marry their Meriah women, for whom a high price had already been paid.
In some of the hills of Chinna Kimedy, children of both sexes are put to death. As soon as a child is born, a priest is called to ascertain whether it is to live or die. To effect this purpose, he employs a plan very like the “Sortes Virgilianæ.” He produces a book, and, after some prayers, thrusts an iron style at random among the leaves. He then reads the passage to which the style points, and if it be unfavorable, the child must die, or the fields would bear no more crops.
The fatal edict having been pronounced, the child is placed in a new earthen vessel (which has been painted in red and black stripes), the cover is fastened down, and the jar is buried. Some flowers and rice are laid on the cover, and, after the earth is filled in, a fowl is sacrificed upon the poor little victim’s grave.
Before leaving these remarkable tribes, we will glance slightly at one or two of their most characteristic customs.
Their weapons are very simple, consisting of a curious sword fixed to a gauntlet, the bow and arrow, and the axe. The last is the national weapon of the Khonds, and in its use they are wonderfully adroit. General Campbell mentions that a British officer was out in the evening for the purpose of shooting a bear, but only wounded the animal slightly, instead of killing it outright. The bear started for the hills, but was pursued by several Khonds, who overtook it, got between the hill and the bear, and then, armed only with their axes, attacked and hacked the animal to pieces. These axes are about four feet long in the handle, and have but small heads. These, however, are made of good steel, and in the practised hand of a Khond the axe is a weapon much more formidable than it looks. This exhibition of courage is the more remarkable, because the actors in it were Meriah men who had been rescued from sacrifice. The sword that has been mentioned is a comparatively rare weapon, and belongs rather to the Ooryahs than to the Khonds proper.
The Khond tribes seem to be rather fond of quarrelling among each other, and carry on a kind of desultory or guerilla warfare. Pitched battles they dislike, preferring to steal cattle from their opponents, and to kill them by stealth, to meeting them in open fight. Indeed, they pride themselves on doing as much injury as possible to their antagonists, while receiving the least possible harm themselves. Accordingly, when the delegates of two inimical tribes meet for the purpose of restoring peace, some very absurd scenes take place. The umpires call upon the representatives of the tribes to declare the number of cattle stolen and men killed; and it is generally found that the latter item is equally balanced, neither party caring to acknowledge that a man of their own tribe has been killed, unless the adversaries can prove it. They cannot but admit that the man was killed, but attribute his death to accident, such as being carried off by a tiger, or bitten by a snake.
Pride forms a great element in the Khond character. The people are fond of their land, and nothing can induce a Khond to sell one yard of ground to a foreigner, nor even to part with a single tree that grows on that soil. Generally, they are too proud to barter, but leave that business to the Pannoo tribes, by whom, as may be remembered, the Meriah victims are generally furnished. Among the Khonds there are but two employments worthy of their dignity, i. e. warfare and agriculture, and all persons are despised who carry on any other profession or business, even though they may profit by it themselves. Yet there is no system of caste among them, such as we find among the Hindoos, neither have they any prejudice in regard of diet, except perhaps a dislike to milk.
As to the religion of the Khonds, it is of the simplest description, and their worship is practically comprised in the Meriah sacrifice. There are certain very barbarous sacred images to be found in the hill districts, but no one seems to care or even to know much about them, and the priests, or medicine men, are as ignorant or careless on the subject as the people in general. It ought to be mentioned that very elaborate accounts have been published respecting the religion of the Khonds, their vast army of deities, and their quadruple souls. But there is now no doubt that the information upon which these accounts were based was simply invented by the narrators in order to suit their own purposes.
Putting aside the Meriah system, the Khonds have several superstitions in which they firmly believe, and the strangest of them is their idea that certain human beings can transform themselves into tigers. These persons are called “Pulta Bags,” and are very much dreaded by the people, upon whose fears they intentionally play for the purpose of extortion. Knowing that the ignorant people believe them to be possessed of such a power, they extort food, clothing, and other property from them at intervals, saying that they are poor, and unless supplied with the necessaries of life, they will be forced to transform themselves into tigers, and to carry off the cattle.
General Campbell mentions an instance where he was brought in contact with, or rather in opposition to, this superstition. An excited crowd came to him, accompanied by several armed men, who guarded two women. One of the men then said that he and his son were in the jungle cutting firewood, when a tiger sprang upon the lad and carried him off. The father pursued the animal, shouting after it until it turned the corner of the rock, when it disappeared, and on the top of the rock were then seen the two women. The case was clear. These two women were Pulta Bags. While in the tiger form they had carried off his son, but, alarmed by his shouts, had hidden the body of the lad and resumed their human shapes.
On being questioned, the women acknowledged that the story was true, and that they did possess the power attributed to them. General Campbell then offered to release them, provided that they would transform themselves into tigers in his presence. This, to his astonishment, they agreed to do, provided that he accompanied them to a neighboring jungle. Finding, however, that the English general was not so easily frightened as a Khond warrior, and that they would be taken at their word, they threw themselves at his feet, and acknowledged their imposture.
A remarkable instance of this belief is narrated by the same writer. A brave little Khond, belonging to the irregular force, was engaged in a conflict when several of the enemy were killed, among whom was one who was shot by his own hand. Instead of being proud of his exploit, he was seized with terror, declaring that the man whom he had killed was a Pulta Bag, and that he would assume the shape of a tiger and avenge himself. After the campaign was over, he obtained leave to visit his family, and, previous to his departure, he brought his uniform, asking that care might be taken of it, as he felt sure that he should never wear it again. He joined his family, and lived with them for some weeks, when, as he was watching his cattle, a tiger sprang on him, and wounded him so cruelly that he shortly died. Nothing could persuade him that the tiger was not the man whom he had shot, and the event only strengthened the hold which the superstition has on the native mind.
Marriage is generally celebrated at the hunting season, probably because the stores of food and drink are secured for that time, and there is always plenty of food for the marriage feast. Among them prevails the custom of carrying off the bride. The bridegroom snatches up the girl and runs off with her, pursued by a number of young women who try to snatch her from him, or at least pretend to do so. He, however, is protected by twenty or thirty young men, who keep him and his burden in their midst, and do their best to shield him from the bamboos, stones, and other missiles which are hurled at him by the women. When he reaches the boundaries of his own village, he is supposed to have won his bride, while the assailing party scamper at full speed to their own dwellings.
BOWS AND QUIVER. (From my Collection.)
(See page 1401.)