Preliminary Observations respecting the Geography, Chief Features, Climate, People, Religion, Learning, Early History, and Institutions of the Mahratta Country.
According to Hindoo geographers, the Deccan, or country south of the Nerbuddah, and Mahanuddee rivers, consists of a considerable number of parts; but there are five principal divisions, named Drawed, Carnatic, Andur, or Telingana, Gondwaneh, and Maharashtra. All well informed Hindoos talk familiarly of these divisions, but they disagree materially as to their extent. Colonel Wilks, in the absence of more direct evidence, has adopted the best practical rule of ascertaining their boundaries, by tracing them according to the space over which each particular language is now spoken. The portion termed Drawed extend from Cape Comorin to the north of Madras: in this tract the
Tamul1 is the vernacular tongue. The ancient Carnatic, is comprehended in the great table land between Malabar and the coast now known by the name of Coromandel: the Ghauts, or chain of hills on both sides, form its boundary to the east and west; but it extends in an angle between Telingana and Maharashtra, as far north as the Manjera river; from which point it forms the western boundary of the former, and the south-eastern boundary of the latter. Telingana, commencing southwards about Pulicat, or the northern extremity of Drawed, extends to Sicacole in Orissa; which last, together with Gondwaneh, occupies the space between Telingana and the Mahanuddee. The fifth division, which forms the western boundary of Gondwaneh and Telingana, it will be necessary to define with more precision.
Maharashtra is the native country of the people whose history it is now proposed to trace. Different limits are assigned to this great portion of the Deccan. According to the Tutwa, one of the books of the Jotush Shaster, or Hindoo Astronomy, Maharashtra extends no farther than the Chandore range of hills, where Kolwun, Buglana, and Candeish are represented as its northern boundary, and all beyond those countries is indiscriminately termed Vendhiadree.
The tract between Chandore and Eroor Manjera,
on the Kistna, is certainly the most decidedly Mahratta, and in it there is the least variation in the language; but following the rule adverted to, in its more extended sense, Maharashtra is that space which is bounded on the north by the Sautpoora mountains2; and extends from Naundode on the west, along those mountains, to the Wyne Gunga, east of Nagpoor. The western bank of that river forms a part of the eastern boundary until it falls into the Wurda. From the junction of these rivers, it may be traced up the east bank of the Wurda to Manikdroog, and thence westward to Mahoor. From this last place a waving line may be extended to Goa, whilst on the west it is bounded by the ocean.
The Mahratta language prevails throughout this great tract of country; but in a space so extensive, there are, of course, various dialects of it, with a mixture of other tongues towards the verge of the boundaries; and there is a small space about Surat, Baroach, and Rajpeeplee, where the Guzerattee is spoken, but which may be excluded, by an imaginary line drawn from Damaun to the middle of the Naundode district, or western point of the Sautpoora range, whence this definition of Maharashtra commences. The whole tract comprehends a surface of upwards of 102,000 square miles, and its present population, estimated principally from the returns of the collectors in the territory, lately conquered by the British government,
is about six millions, or at the average rate of fifty-nine souls to the square mile.
Maharashtra, from its still retaining a distinct language, from its giving name to a class of Bramins, and the general appellation of Mahrattas to its inhabitants, was, perhaps, at some very distant period, under one Raja or Hindoo prince. There is, however, no direct evidence to support this conjecture; nor is there any ancient history in the country, excepting the fabulous legends called Poorans, which relate to the actions of gods and men, and which, though probably founded on historical truth, are yet so involved in mythological obscurity, that no research is ever likely to reconcile them with real events3.
The Concan is that part of Maharashtra which lies between the Ghauts4 and the sea, and extends along the coast, from Sewdasheogurh to the Taptee. Although so far below the great chain of mountains stretching along parallel with the western coast of India, it must not be considered a flat country; on the contrary, the Concan is in most parts remarkably rugged and broken, interspersed with huge mountains and thick jungles, intersected by rivers and numberless rivulets; rocky and clear, until they descend on the level, where they are affected by the tide, when they are very deep and muddy. The roads are generally stony footpaths, and become more inaccessible as they approach the Syhadree mountains, which, except in places rendered more practicable by the British government, can only be ascended by narrow paths and defiles, sometimes so precipitous that a led horse
can with difficulty keep his footing. When ascending, and on gaining the summit of any of these passes, especially to the southward of Poona, the scenery which every where presents itself is of the grandest kind. Some idea of it may be farmed by imagining mountains succeeding mountains, three or four thousand feet high, covered with trees, except in places where the huge, black, barren rocks are so solid as to prevent the hardiest shrub from finding root in their clefts. The verdure about the Ghauts to the southward of Poona is perpetual, but during the rainy season, especially towards the latter part of it, when the torrents are pouring from the sides of the mountains, the effect is greatly heightened by the extreme luxuriance of vegetation; whilst gleams of sunshine, reflected from the breaking masses of clouds, give a thousand evanescent tints to every hill they light upon. Tempests and thunder storms, both at the commencement and close of the south-west monsoon, are very frequent, and in that region, these awful phenomena of nature are, in a tenfold degree, tremendous and sublime.
Notwithstanding the roughness of feature which characterizes the Concan, it is in many parts remarkably fertile. Its breadth, from the sea to the summit of the Syhadree range, is of unequal extent, varying from twenty-five to fifty miles. The top, or table land, which is, in many places, very extensive, forms part of what the natives call Concan–Ghaut–Mahta, or Concan on the top, to distinguish it from Thul-Concan, or Concan below the Ghauts. The highest part of the ridge is that which immediately faces the Concan, and the summit is generally
from one to two thousand feet above the table land. The breadth of the Concan–Ghaut–Mahta is about twenty or twenty-five miles, and comprehends all the mountainous tract on the upper or eastern side, including the vallies that lie between the smaller branches of hills. The Mahrattas, in short, reckon the Concan–Ghaut–Mahta, from the point at which these branches terminate in the plain on the eastern side, to the summit of the ridge facing the Concan.
The Concan–Ghaut–Mahta, from Joonere to Kolapoor, is divided into the Mawuls, the Khoras, and the Mooras: these are names used by the natives, both for parts of the table land and the vallies. The whole tract is populous, and the vallies are now well cultivated. The inhabitants are remarkable for their simple, inoffensive demeanour, but they are hardy and patient, and, as the well known Mawulees of Sivajee, we shall find them led on to active and daring enterprise. North of Joonere these vallies are not so well cultivated, and the inhabitants are for the most part Bheels and Koolees, predatory tribes, who, in their wildest state, subsist by hunting and plundering. The Mawuls, Khoras, and indeed the whole of the Ghaut–Mahta, is infested by wild beasts, particularly the royal tiger, which is here found very fierce and destructive.
In the Ghauts, and along the hills alluded to, both above and below the great range, the summits are frequently crowned, or girded towards the top, by large massy basaltic rocks. These, with little aid from art, are capable of being formed into fortresses, which, independent of the extreme difficulty
of approach, often seem in themselves impregnable. In many of them there are springs of the finest water, and in all a supply can be secured in tanks, or reservoirs, during the periodical rains from May to October. Throughout that period of the year it is scarcely possible for troops to act in the Ghaut–Mahta; as, superadded to the steep, rugged, rocky hills, and the deep, winding dells, covered like the mountains by high trees, or tangled with low impervious brush-wood, there is almost perpetual rain; most of the rivulets are then frequently swollen into impassable torrents, and there is a chilling damp in the forests, exceedingly insalubrious to persons not inured to its influence; in short, in a military point of view, there is probably no stronger country in the world.
The Ghaut–Mahta is succeeded by the open country, or Desh, which generally becomes more and more level to the eastward; but there are four great ranges of hills, running west and east, extending far beyond the ordinary branches of the Syhadree mountains. In succession to the Sautpoora or northern boundary of Maharashtra, there are, the great chain, commonly called the Chandore range, extending from Rhoura to the heart of Berar; the Ahmednugur hills from Joonere to Bheer; the range immediately to the southward of Poona; and the Mahdeo hills to the north of Satara5.
The general aspect of Mahrashtra is hilly, the vallies are well watered, and the climate is perhaps the most salubrious in India; but in regard to cultivation, soil, and products, it is inferior to most other parts of that fertile region.
The principal rivers are the Nerbuddah, the Taptee, the Godavery, the Beema, and the Kistna. For some distance along the banks of these rivers the soil is in general excellent, and the crops raised cannot be exceeded in plenty and luxuriance. The banks of the Godavery, or Gunga as it, is termed by the Mahrattas, the Beema and its tributary streams, the Neera and the Maun, are all celebrated for their breed of horses6, particularly the two last, which, though small, are accounted the best and the hardiest that are reared in the Deccan.
The mass of the population, in the country thus briefly described, are Hindoos, who, by the ordinances of their sacred writings, are divided into the four well known casts of Bramin, Kshittree, Weysh, and Shooder; but all these classes, though nominally preserved, are degenerated, extinct, or greatly subdivided.
The Bramins7 are the priesthood, whose lives ought to be spent in worshipping and contemplating the Divinity, and teaching, by precept and example, what is proper to be observed by the rest of mankind, to enable them to gain the favour of the gods, and to attain a more exalted state in their transmigration. They ought to have no interference in worldly concerns; but they have long been the principal officers, civil and military, in all Hindoo states. Those Bramins who strictly follow the tenets of their faith, and devote their lives to the study of what Hindoos conceive the divine ordinances, are held in great esteem; but otherwise, in the Mahratta country, there is no veneration for the Bramin character.
Independent of the two Mahratta divisions of
Concanist8, or those who belong to the country below the Ghauts, and Deshist, or those of the territory above, there are in the Mahratta country eight classes9 of Bramins, who differ from each other in
some of their usages, and present, to those accustomed to observe them, perceptible differences both of character and appearance.
The second of the four grand classes of Hindoos is termed Kshittree, or the military body. The pure Kshittrees are considered extinct; but the Rajpoots10, who assume their appellation and their privileges, are the least degenerate of their descendants.
The third grand class is the Weysh11, or the mercantile community.
The last of the four grand classes is the Shooder: they are properly the cultivators, and as such, are known in the Mahratta country by the name of Koonbee.
But besides these four grand divisions, there are a vast number of Hindoos, the intermixed progeny of the four classes and of each other. They are not, however, what the European reader might fancy as outcasts: they have a community of their own, and ranks, professions, and employments peculiar to themselves, of which there are an infinite number. All trades and artizans are of this irregular offspring, and classed, in Maharashtra, under the general appellation of Shunkerjatee12.
From all casts and classes there are devotees, who, renouncing the world, assume a religious character, which is generally put on in order to attain a larger share of what they pretend to give up; but some have been exemplary in their conduct, and, by the tenor of their lives, as well as their penance and observances, are supposed to have been animated by hopes paramount to all bodily suffering, and to have looked for no earthly reward; that in them even vanity was subdued, and that they were superior to that greatest of all seductions, the praise of their fellow-men. A person of such a character is termed a Sadhoo: he may be of any cast, or persuasion; for a Hindoo admits that there may be pure devotion in any religion, sex, or cast. Of the Sadhoos, or saints that have been famous in Maharashtra, Kubheer13 was a Mahomedan, Tookaram a Banian, Kanhoo Patra, a woman born of the dancing tribe, and Choka Mela was a Mhar or Dher.
Bramin devotees are of three sorts, Brimhacharee14, Wan Prist, and Sunneashee.
Banians, though there are many devotees from this class of people, are not so apt to become so, as the other casts.
The Rajpoots, however, and all classes of Shooders15 a may become Gosaeens and Byragees16. When a Bramin assumes either of these characters, he forfeits all claim to cast as a Bramin. Yet Gosaeen is a familiar name for the followers and disciples of the famous Mahapoorush17, and Brimhacharee,
Ramdass Swamy, the spiritual director of Sivajee; and it is likewise an appellation of those Bramins who are professional story-tellers, or reciters of Kuthas, generally known as Hurdass18 Gosaeen; but in these cases it is a mere nominal distinction.
The Gosaeens19, properly so called, are followers of Mahdeo. The Byragees generally maintain the supremacy of Vishnoo.
The Gosaeens are a much more numerous body in the Mahratta country than the Byragees: their dress, when they wear clothes, is invariably dyed orange; a colour emblematical of Mahdeo. The Gosaeens, for the most part, have deviated from the rules of their order in a manner universally stigmatized by Hindoos. They engage in trade; they enlist as soldiers; some of them marry, and many of them have concubines. Gosaeens, who go without clothing, acquire superior character; but those of greatest sanctity are the Gosaeens, who never shave, or cut their hair or nails, or who have vowed to keep their heads or limbs in a particular position. The penances by extremes of heat and cold, and the voluntary tortures which some of them undergo, are often greater than one might suppose the human frame could endure.
Men who survive such exposure, and voluntarily submit to such bodily suffering, are, it may easily be conceived, very formidable when they take up arms. Gosaeens and Byragees have frequently waged a religious war; and some of the divisions of Gosaeens have had desperate battles with each other. Under a weak or unsettled government, the Gosaeens and Byragees have both been guilty of dreadful outrages on the persons and properties of the inoffensive part of the community; but the former are more notorious in this respect than the latter. They used to travel in armed parties, and under pretence of seeking charity, levied contributions on the country. Where unsuccessfully resisted, they frequently plundered,
murdered, and committed the most brutal enormities.
The reader will now understand, from what has been said of the most conspicuous classes of the inhabitants in Maharashtra, that the name Mahratta is applicable in some degree to all of them, when spoken of in contradistinction to men of other countries; but amongst themselves a Mahratta Bramin will carefully distinguish himself from a Mahratta. That term, though extended to the Koonbees, or cultivators, is, in strictness, confined to the military families of the country, many of whom claim a doubtful but not improbable descent from the Rajpoots.
The women in the Mahratta country are well treated; they are the helpmates, but by no means the slaves of their husbands; nor are they in the degraded state in which some travellers have described the condition of the women in other parts of India, and in which the ordinances of the Shasters would place them. There is one custom generally observed among them, which is, that the wives of all the chiefs and military men, who pretend to Rajpoot descent, are as strictly veiled as the Mahomedan ladies of rank, and as much disgrace attaches to their being seen, particularly by persons not Hindoos. This observance they probably adopted, in the first instance, from the Deccanee Mussulmans, or the Moghuls, but they say it is handed down as a usage of the branch of Rajpoots, from whom they are descended. Mahratta ladies of this description, on the death of their husbands, frequently immolate themselves
with the corpse; but in cases where they either have helpless infants, or important family affairs requiring their care, they are rarely permitted to do so. Should they for the latter reason choose to survive, their veil is in a great degree removed, as they are obliged to, appear where business demands their presence, in company with men, in an assembly, or even in battle.
With regard to religion, the principal feature in that of all Hindoos is their belief in the transmigration of the soul; and without attempting to reconcile, much less to defend, the ridiculous inconsistencies of their wild mythology, or to account for the differences that exist, in what may be now stated, from that which prevails in other parts of India, a brief summary of the religious creed of the Mahrattas will here be useful, especially to the reader in England:– They believe that the great Divine Spirit pervades the universe; that the soul of every human being is a part of that great Spirit, and when perfectly purified is re-united to it. This is the ultimate reward of the good, whilst the punishment of the wicked consists in being re-born in a state proportionally distant from that reunion. The soul which animates the body of a Bramin is nearest to this state of beatitude, provided he shall duly fulfil the ordinances of his faith; but if he do not, his soul shall be detained in nurruk, or hell, until sufficient torture, in expiation of sins, has been inflicted, when it will be sent to re-animate some other living shape upon the earth. The souls of all mankind must, therefore,
pass through the human form of a Bramin as their last probation, unless that perfect goodness can be attained, which they describe in the character of a Sadhoo; in which case immediate admittance is gained to eternal happiness.
The Mahrattas suppose that the divine nature, in itself; cannot be the agent; yet, from this divine nature, or great spirit, known by the name of Brimh, emanated Prakritee, or nature, and Brahma the creator, Vishnoo the preserver, and Siva or Mahdeo the destroyer: the respective wives of these three are Sawitree, Luximee, and Parbuttee.
Brahma created all things: he created human beings, and was himself incarnate; he is the father of the Deos, or good spirits; and likewise of the Dyts, or evil spirits. Indra is the chief of the former, and Bullee of the latter. The agents of preservation and destruction, together with their wives, have likewise become incarnate, and assumed a multitude of forms on the earth, in order to fulfil the ends of their being. These incarnations are called their outars; the different names of these, together with a number of emanations, produce a host of deities, amounting, say the Bramins, exclusive of Brahma, Vishnoo, and Mahdeo, to three hundred and thirty millions.
There is but one temple dedicated to Brahma in India, which is at Pooshkur, near Ajimere. Vishnoo, Mahdeo, and their wives, are worshipped under the names of their various outars, in numerous temples, where their images are preserved. There are a multitude of incarnations from all of
them; but there are eleven principal outars of Mahdeo, and ten of Vishnoo: those of Mahdeo were chiefly for the purpose of assisting Indra, in his wars with the Dyts: those of Vishnoo are the most celebrated; but as they are well known, it may be sufficient to remark, that his wars for the destruction of evil genii, and oppressive Rajas, and the shapes he assumed for the preservation of the world on various occasions, are recorded in the Poorans, or sacred histories, forming the subject of their great popular poems, the Ramayun, the Mahabharut, and the Bhagwut. These poems have in later times been imitated in Mahratta, and have afforded a never failing fund of amusements in supplying ideas and allusions for all Kuthas, a sort of recitative, intermixed with music and song; in which tales, achievements, acts, and penances of the gods are related, anecdotes and allusions to passing occurrences, often wittily introduced, and good moral lessons frequently conveyed. The Kuthas20 are a popular amusement in Maharashtra with all ranks and casts.
There is no religion in which there are a greater number of sectaries than that of the Hindoos. The two great divisions are those who acknowledge the supremacy of Vishnoo, and those who assert the superiority, or equality of Mahdeo21, the latter
has long been the prevailing creed throughout Maharashtra.
Most individuals have some deity, which they reckon especially propitious to themselves: this deity is termed Aradh; but every family has invariably a tutelary god, who is styled their Kool Swamy22. All the gods are worshipped more particularly at certain times, for instance, Gunputtee, the son of Mahdeo, on commencing anything; and the name of Ram (an outar of Vishnoo) is pronounced in the hour of death; but the Aradh and. Kool Swamy are inwardly implored on ordinary occasions, when suing for strength to perform what is good, or to resist what is evil; to obtain health, happiness, or any worthy object. Such Bramins as can be termed religious instructors, are either Oopadheeas, or Gooroos; the distinction in, these is, that the Oopadheea is commonly the hereditary domestic teacher in a family, and the Gooroo is the chosen instructor and intercessor of an individual. Many persons, especially men of consequence, choose some celebrated devotee for their spiritual guide, whose sanctity is supposed to be such, that by his intercession with the Deity, objects will be granted which would be
denied to the less worthy individual. Such a mediator, though he may not attain the character of a Sadhoo, is superior to other Gooroos, and acquires the appellation of Mahapooroosh23. It is remarkable that the Mahapooroosh of the Mahrattas is sometimes a Mahomedan.
All natives of India, even the most intelligent of them, are extremely superstitious, and place great reliance on astrology, omens, prodigies, and prophecies; and nothing of magic, witchcraft, or supernatural agency, is too gross for the credulity of the multitude.
All Mahratta learning, except simple reading, writing, and arithmetic, is confined to those Bramins24, who study the Sanscrit language, in which, only their sacred writings are composed. The principal of these are, the four Bheds, or Vedas; the six Shasters; and the Poorans25, or sacred histories,
of which there are eighteen principal; but upon these there are an infinite number of explanations and commentaries.
A small proportion only of the Mahratta Bramins understand Sanscrit; and there is no great proficiency, even in Hindoo literature, to be found among them at the present day.
Much injudicious praise has been lavished on the learning and virtue of the Hindoos, and in exposing these panegyrics, their character has become the theme of still more injudicious censure. Both extremes are unjust; and surely it would be better, that the unfavourable side of the picture should not be viewed by any person whose fortunes may lead him to the shores of India as a servant of the public. If our young countrymen proceed to their destination unbiassed by prejudice, study the language, and cultivate the acquaintance of the natives, they will, after long intercourse, have many kind recollections and feelings towards them. They may often be disgusted with corruption, meanness, and every debasing passion, which observation and general intercourse with mankind in all parts of the world will too frequently discover; but they will soon perceive, that many of these vices have originated in a corrupt, oppressive government, and the demoralizing effects of an absurd superstition; that they really possess many ‘virtues, and great qualities; and that much of what is amiable, in every relation of life, may be found amongst the natives of India.
We now proceed, however, to notice the first records of events, which have as yet been discovered,
relative to that portion of the people of whom our subject more particularly treats.
Like the early history of every country, that of Maharashtra is involved in much obscurity; yet there are traces of two or three great revolutions previous to the Mahomedan conquest. Popular legend tells us, that the people called Gursee, who are a low cast, and the best performers amongst the rude musicians of the country, are the aborigines of Maharashtra: and this is supported by the authority of the Poorans, in which it is stated, that the tract between the Cavery and the Godavery, was termed Dhundkarinya, or the forest, and that when Rawun held universal sway, he bestowed it upon the Wajintree, or musicians. But the first authentic account we have of any sovereignty in the country, is that of which Tagara was the metropolis. This city was frequented by Egyptian merchants two hundred and fifty years before Christ; and the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean sea, who wrote about the middle of the second century, particularly mentions it as a place of great resort, and well known to the Greeks as the emporium for the supply of their merchandise.
Its name is well known to learned Hindoos, but its exact position has not been ascertained26; though it was probably situated on the bank of the Godavery, a little to the north-east of the modern town of Bheer. It was under the government of a Rajpoot prince, whose authority appears to have been very
extensive, and acknowledged by several other rajas, as he is styled the chief of the chiefs of Tagara27.
It is probable that the power of the rajas of Tagara originated by conquest from the northward; but the next revolution of which we have any trace, appears to have been occasioned by an insurrection in the country, headed by a man of an inferior cast, named Shalivahan28, whose accession to power forms an epoch, commencing in the year 77–78 of the Christian era.
Shalivahan, it is supposed, removed the seat of government to Prutesthan, which is the Paithana mentioned in the Periplus, and the modern town of Mungy Pyetun, situated on the banks of the Godavery – What follows in regard to this prince is extracted from the fabulous legends of the country.
Shalivahan29 annexed the territory of a raja, who reigned at Asseer, to his own dominions: this raja was descended from Sissoday, a Rajpoot raja of the solar race; his ancestor having emigrated
from Koshul Desh, the modern Oude, and founded a state on the south side of the Nerbuddah, which, at the period of its conquest by Shalivahan, had existed 1680 years. Shalivahan put the whole of the members of this family to death, excepting one woman, who, having escaped with her infant sons, found shelter and subsistence in a miraculous manner amongst the Sautpoora mountains: this son afterwards became the founder of the family of the Rana of Cheitore. From the Ranas of Cheitore sprang the Ranas of Oudepoor, universally admitted to be the oldest family in Hindoostan; and from them, according to the legend quoted, it is pretended that the founder of the Mahratta nation, as hitherto known to us, drew his lineage. The legend proceeds to state, that Shalivahan long waged war with Vikramajeet, the Prince of Malwa; but they at last concluded a treaty by which the Nerbuddah became the boundary of Shalivahan to the north, and of Vikramajeet to the south. The commencement of the reign of each was to form an epoch for future calculation in their respective countries; that of Vikramajeet commences fifty-seven years before the birth of our Saviour, and is still prevalent to the northward of the Nerbuddah whilst that of Shalivahan, already noticed, continues in the Deccan. In the Mahratta manuscripts, these epochs have been rather inconsistently adduced as a proof of such a treaty betwixt Vikramajeet and Shalivahan; because as there is a difference of one hundred and thirty-three years, the eras themselves refute the story; unless we suppose that Vikramajeet had prior claims to sovereignty,
and that the era was reckoned from the time of some of his forefathers.
There were, probably, several other revolutions in Maharashtra; but nothing is known as to the cause, or period of a subsequent removal of the capital from Paithana to Deogurh, the modern Doulutabad. Some manuscripts deduce a succession of rajas from Shalivahan to Jadow Ramdeo Rao, who was the reigning prince at the time of the first appearance of the Mahomedans in that quarter, in the end of the thirteenth century. At that period, and as far back as there is any authentic record, the Mahratta country seems to have been divided into many small states, more or less independent.
Ferishta mentions the opposition which Alp Khan, the Soobehdar, or Governor, of Guzerat, experienced from a raja named Kirren, when co-operating with Mullik Kafoor in the second expedition into the Deccan. The Raja of Gondwaneh is noticed; and the Raja of Buglana is frequently mentioned by that author. By a grant of land, engraved on a copperplate, and found at Tannah near Bombay30, it appears that there was a Raja reigning in or near the island of Salsette, 1018, who claimed descent from the rajas of Tagara. A copperplate of a similar description, found at Satara31, proves that 1192, there was a Raja at Panalla, who possessed a considerable territory32. By the legends
of the country, he is said to have reigned over the whole of the tract extending from the Mahdeo range of hills, north of Satara, to the Hurnkassee river, south of Kalapoor, and including all the southern tract of the Concan as far as Sewdasheogurh.
This raja likewise claimed descent from the rajas of Tagara. His country, according to tradition, was reduced by a raja named Singin, also said to have been a Rajpoot prince. The place of his standing encampment during the time his troops were reducing the country of the raja of Panalla, is still shown close to Mahsoorna in the neighbourhood of Poosasaoly, south of Satara. The Raja Singin died before he had firmly established himself, and the territory of Bhoje, Raja of Panalla, fell into the hands of Mahratta polygars33. The Concan–Ghaut–Mahta, from the neighbourhood of Poona to the Warna, belonged to a family named Sirkay, whose descendants assumed the title of raja, and to this day rank amongst the highest of the Mahratta nobility34.
It is probable, that future research in the Deccan may add considerably to this list, and establish further proofs in support of an opinion now pretty
general among Europeans, that India, at a period long antecedent to the Mahomedan conquest, was divided into many small states.
The most beneficial result of such research would be, the probable discovery of the various modes of revenue management, and the origin of many institutions now found in the country. Some partial explanation of these points must here be given, because a previous acquaintance with them is essentially necessary to the reader, in order to understand the state of the country at different periods, and to comprehend the mode in which the modern Mahrattas, gradually and insidiously found pretexts for encroaching upon the corrupt and indolent Mahomedans.
In Maharashtra, and indeed throughout all the country of the Hindoos, next to their singular arrangement into casts, the most striking feature in their polity is the division of the whole country into villages, each of which forms a distinct community.
A Hindoo village in the Deccan is termed Gaom; when not a market-town, it is called Mouza; and when it enjoys that distinction, it is styled Kusba. Every village is a small state in miniature, and all the land in the country, with the exception of inaccessible mountains, or places wholly unfrequented, is attached to some one village. The boundaries of its lands are defined, and encroachments carefully resisted; the arable land is divided into fields; each field has a name, which, together with the name of the owner or occupant
is registered. The inhabitants are principally cultivators, and are now either Meerasdars35, or Ooprees36. These names serve to distinguish the tenure by which they hold their lands. The Oopree is a mere tenant at will, but the Meerasdar is a hereditary occupant, whom the government cannot displace as long as he pays the assessment on his field. With various privileges and distinctions in his village, of minor consequence, the Meerasdar has the important power of selling or transferring his right of occupancy at pleasure. To render this right saleable, of course, infers a low rate of assessment, and much discussion as to his being the proprietor of the soil has, in consequence, arisen, in different parts of British India. It is a current opinion in the Mahratta country that all the lands were originally of this description.
Besides the cultivators and the regular establishment there are other casts and trades in proportion to the size of each village. The complete establishment consists of a Patell, Koolkurnee, and Chougula, with twenty-four persons, called the Baruh Balowtay, and Baruh Alowtay37. These
twenty-four persons are of various trades and professions, necessary as artisans and public servants, or desirable on account of religious observances
and common amusements. Very few villages are complete, and in a great part of the Concan, the Khotes, or ancient farmers of the village revenue
have long become hereditary, and superseded the name and office of the chief village magistrate; but in the upper country every village has its Patell and Koolkurnee, and each of the larger villages has its bard and astrologer, as well as its carpenter, blacksmith, barber, and watchman. The smaller have only one or two of the most useful artizans.
The Patell is the head managing authority, his immediate assistant is the Chougula, and both of them are generally of the Shooder cast38.
The principal person next to the Patell, is the Koolkurnee, the clerk, or registrar, who is now generally a Bramin39.
The Patell is assisted by the rest of the establishment in managing the affairs of the village; and the whole are paid by lands, grain, or money, apportioned in shares to each individual by the regulations of the community.
The Patell superintends the cultivation, manages the police, and frequently provides for the amusement as well as the protection of the village. When disputes arise, which cannot be settled by the friendly interference of neighbours, the complaint is carried to the Patell, who advises, admonishes, and frequently induces the parties to compromise the matter; but if it seem necessary, the Patell assembles some of the inhabitants best acquainted with the circumstances, to whom the case is, in due form, submitted for arbitration: this is called a Punchayet, which commonly consists of five
members. Such is the simple outline of the civil government of a village. In criminal cases, though instances are found where a Patell has exercised great power under the Mahratta government, he is not, by the acknowledged custom of the country, vested with the authority of fine or imprisonment, or the power of inflicting corporal punishment; when crimes of such a nature occur, it is the duty of the Patell to report the case to his superior, or to apprehend and forward the culprit, to higher authority.
The name Patell, though not a Mahomedan word, is supposed, by the Mahratta Bramins, to have been introduced by the Mahomedans. The ancient Hindoo appellation was Gaora, and that of the managing Patell or Muqudum, Gramadikaree. The Koolkurnee was termed Gramlekuk. A principal part of the duty of the Patell and Koolkurnee is to superintend the arrangement and collection of the revenue. It is the business of the Koolkurnee to keep all public accounts, which are made up annually. In his general account the whole of the land is first stated; then the commons, roads, the site of the village, and all waste land incapable of cultivation, are deducted. The arable land is next shown, and alienations of every description specified. The remainder is the land on which the government assessment is levied. This ought to be laid on with reference to the produce. By the ordinances of the Shasters, one sixth of the crop is the lawful share payable by the ryot, or cultivator, to the Raja. But this usage of remote antiquity has been long unknown in practice; and
different rates and modes of collection have been fixed, or enacted by succeeding rulers, as wisdom and good policy suggested, or as rapacity and necessity may have urged.
The great source of revenue in every village of the Mahratta country is the land rent; but there are two other heads of collection; the one may be termed the extra revenue, and the other the customs. Under the first of these all taxes are comprehended, which, being added to the amount of the land assessment, the total is called the Jummabundee. The extra revenue, although made up of a variety of petty items, is neither heavy nor important. The customs are of a more intricate nature. The villages, as already observed, are commonly either termed Mouzas or Kusbas; one very large village may constitute a Kusba, without any dependant villages; but in general, from five to twenty-five villages are subordinate to one Kusba; and on this are regulated the complicated inland imposts, which exist under native governments, and which are probably founded on ancient Hindoo institutions40.
Independent of various allowances in kind, the
Patells, Koolkurnees, and Chowgulas, hold about one twenty-fifth of the village land, rent free. It is a conjecture of the more intelligent natives of the country, that, in ancient times, these officers superintended by the superior government agents, collected the assessment in kind. The whole of the intermediate agents, that may have existed between the Patell and the Raja, are not precisely ascertained: but at present, over several villages, forming a small district, there are always two hereditary officers; the one called Deshmookh, Dessaee, or Zumeendar; and the other Deshpandya, Deshlekuk, and Qanoongo. Both these officers now occasionally assume the title of Zumeendar, but the appellations, Deshmookh and Deshpandya are in more general use in the Mahratta country; and their duties, under the Mahomedan governments, were nearly similar in their districts, to those of the Patell and Koolkurnee in their villages. The Deshmookhs and Patells, with few exceptions, are Mahrattas, as the Deshpandyas and Koolkurnees
are Bramins. Though the services of the Deshmookhs and Deshpandyas are in general dispensed with, they continue to be paid by a portion of land in different parts of their district, which may be estimated at about one twentieth of the arable soil, and a twentieth of the government revenue, or five per cent., separately collected by them, and calculated agreeably to the revenue actually realized. But this is stated merely to give a general idea of their allowances, which are exceedingly variable; and they have many rights of shares and exactions which it is unnecessary to enumerate. The Deshpandya has about half the allowances of the Deshmookh in land, in kind, and in money.
There are many conjectures as to the origin of Deshmookhs41 and Deshpandyas. They were, probably, a universal institution of the Hindoo states, as ancient as village establishments, or divisions into casts; arid the Deshadikaree and Deshlekuk, may possibly have been the chief managers in the district for the time being, as the Gramadikaree and Gramlekuk were in the village42.
That there were Deshadikarees is proved by the Widnyanishwur-Shaster43, in which it is expressly stated that the appeal from the Punchayet, assembled
by order of the Gramadikaree, was to the Deshadikaree; but there is, as yet, no proof of the Deshadikarees having been a permanent and
hereditary officer with lands and immunities such as the Deshmookhs had, under the Mahomedan princes of the Deccan.
The institution of Deshmookh, however, on that footing, if not prior to the rise of the Bahminee dynasty, is at least coeval with it in Maharashtra; but as a Hindoo state succeeded that of the Mahomedans, the Deshmookhs never had the assurance to attempt to impose upon their own nation, by pretending to rights such as were so precipitately granted to the same class of people by the British government in Bengal, under the permanent revenue settlement, which is aptly named the Zumeendaree
system, to distinguish it from all other schemes or systems ever known in India.
But, whatever may have been the origin of these officers, the confirming, or withholding of their rights, as far back as we have any authentic trace, has always been a strong political instrument in the hands of every prevailing power in Maharashtra; whether that power sprang from internal insurrection, or foreign conquest; and whether the Deshadikars were mere agents, or hereditary officers of Hindoo institution, there is no doubt, that previous to the Mahomedan conquest, they had in many instances obtained more or less power, with that gradual advance to independence which is conveyed in the appellations of Naik44, Polygar, and Raja, assumed by them according to circumstances.
This brief account of the establishments and institutions, will, it is hoped, prove useful to the reader, and his attention is now solicited to one short definition of some importance. All property, or shares of hereditary right in land, or in the district and village establishments, termed under the ancient Hindoo governments writtee45, is now best known throughout the Mahratta country, by the name of wutun46; and the holder of any such, enjoys what is considered very respectable, the appellation of wutundar.
These preliminary explanations being afforded,
we shall proceed to the period when the Mahomedans first invaded the Deccan. From that time the Mahrattas were quite lost sight of, and so little attention was paid to them, that in the seventeenth century when they started up from their native hills and plains, they were, to other nations, a new and almost unknown race of people. The object of this work is to endeavour to afford some information respecting the condition of the Mahrattas under the Mahomedan dynasties, and to trace more clearly than has yet been done, the rise, progress, decline, and fall of our predecessors in conquest, in India, whose power, it will be perceived, was gradually gaining strength before it found a head in the far-famed adventurer, Sivajee Bhonslay.
1. Malabar, Toolava, and Gohurasht, three divisions of the Malabar coast, though not expressly comprised in the limits of Drawed and Carnatic, are, from the similarity of their languages, considered as attached to these divisions respectively; viz. Malabar or Kerala to Drawed, and Toolava and Gohurasht to Carnatic.
2. The Sautpoora is properly, I am informed by Major Tod, the range adjoining the Vendhia mountains to the south, but the Mahrattas term the whole Sautpoora.
3. One of these Poorans, which recounts the exploits of Pureshram in his war with the Kshittrees, mentions, that at the close of it, having extirpated the Kshittrees and oppressive Rajas, and conferred the conquered territory on the Bramins, they did not choose that he should reside amongst them, which induced Pureshram to repair to the western coast of the Deccan, and to petition the sea for a place of residence. This request, however, was not willingly acceded to; but Pureshram bent his bow, and let fly an arrow from the top of the great western mountains, at which the ocean was intimidated, and receding before it to the point at which it fell, left dry the extensive tract of country now known by the name of the Concan and Malabar coast. In this space different languages are spoken, and Hindoo geographers divide it into seven parts, viz. 1. Kerala, 2. Toolava, 3. Gohurasht, 4. Concan, or Kumpun, 5. Kurar, 6. Wurar, and 7. Burbur; these are supposed to extend from the Paniany river, to Mount Dilly, Dureea Bhadurghur, Sewdasheogurh, or Cape Ramas, Deogurh, Bencoote, Bassein, and the Taptee river respectively. The three first, as mentioned in a preceding note, are attached to Drawed and Carnatic; the four last are now, by the natives, indiscriminately included in the lower Concan, or Concan below the Ghauts. When the Concan simply is mentioned in this work, it is to be understood, as it is generally considered by Europeans, to extend from the sea to the line at which the Ghauts run into the lower country. When Concan–Ghaut–Mahta is specified, it is applicable to a particular tract of mountainous country hereafter described.
4. Ghaut literally means a break, but in the common acceptation, it signifies a pass over any range of hills, and is thus applied to designate the hills themselves. When Ghauts are mentioned in this or any Indian history, the reader must bear in mind what Ghauts, or rather what particular range of hills are alluded to; the Ghauts, however, especially on the Bombay side, are the distinguishing appellation of that immense chain of hills, which extends along the whole western coast of India, and is now more correctly termed the Syhadree (corruptly Shyadree) mountains. Ghaut also is sometimes applied to a ford, or the landing-place on the bank of a river, a sense in which we shall never have occasion to use it.
5. I have had no opportunity of ascertaining, but the Chandore hills are probably the highest above the level of the sea: there is a very perceptible fall in the country from Chandore to the Taptee, and from the Mahdeo hills to the Warns and Kistna.
6. These are distinguished by the name of the place where they have been reared; Gung-thuree, Bheem-thuree, Neerthuree, and Maun Desh. Thuree means the dale or strath in the neighbourhood of a river, and the appellations here mentioned are used by the Mahrattas in speaking of these countries, in preference to any other name by which subdivisions of the country were marked by Mahomedans. Berar is likewise celebrated for the hardiness, but not for the beauty of its horses.
7. There are in India two general divisions of Bramins, termed the Punch Gour, and the Punch Drawed; these two are subdivided into five each; the Punch Gour belong to what has been termed by Rennell, Hindoostan Proper, or the country north of the Nerbuddah, and the other five to Guzerat, and the country south of that river, and the Vendhia or (as they have been already noticed by the more familiar Mahratta name of) the Sautpoora mountains. Those south of the Nerbuddah are the Maharasht, the Andur, or Teling, the Drawed, and the Carnatic. The Goojur are of Guzerat. Besides the great divisions of Mahdeo Bhugt, and Vishnoo Bhugt, or the respective followers of Mahdeo and Vishnoo, there are a great number of subdivisions in all these five classes of Bramins, whose appellations correspond with four of the great divisions of the ancient definition of the Deccan already given; they also derive distinctions from any of the four Vedas in which they may be primarily instructed.
8. The Peishwa, who attained sovereign authority in the Mahratta nation, were of this class. Concanists, from this circumstance, and the power which it naturally threw into their hands, pretend to some superiority in cast; but these pretensions are not well founded. They are termed Chitpawun, which, amongst other significations, means “a dead body raised.” Their origin, according to what is mentioned in a Sanscrit work, entitled The Syhadree Kind, was fourteen dead bodies of different casts that had been drowned in the sea; whence they were transported by Vishnoo in his outer of Pureshram, after he had forced the sea to give up the Concan, or Pureshram Ksheter, and re-animated to people his new country. From these fourteen families sprang the Concanee Bramins, who are now distinguished by sixty surnames. The Deshist Bramins, although they have surnames, prefer the distinction of their father’s name, or the place of their residence, to their surname, which they will seldom mention. The Concanist Bramins, before the elevation of Ballajee Wishwanath, commonly called the first, though in fact the fifth Peishwa, were not employed as clerks and men of business, but as hurkarus and spies. They carefully suppress or destroy all copies of the Syhadree Kind, where their origin is mentioned, and a respectable Bramin of Waee was, a few years ago, disgraced by Bajee Rao for having a copy of it. The Concanists say, that the word chitpawun was originally chitpohle, literally signifying “searing the heart,” made use of in their addresses to their patron Pureshram for not attending to their petitions; this expression, however, being considered undutiful, or improper, was changed to chitpawun, “pure-hearted,” which they interpret “a sinner pardoned.” Of all the Bramins with whom I am acquainted, the Con-mists are the most sensible and intelligent.
9. Their names, arranged according to their degree, are 1. Kurara, 2. Yajurwedee, or Mahadinjen, 3. Kannoo, 4. Deorookay, 5. Kirwunt, 6. Shenwee, 7. Tirgool, and 8. Simony.
10. Rajapootras, or literally the Children of Rajas. They are the offspring of Kshittree Rajas with women of other casts, and are said to have existed since about the year 2000 of the Kalhee Yoog.
11. The real Weysh is also said to be extinct; the Wanees, or Banians, occupy their place; but of a long list of the classes of Banians, there is not one of the subdivisions that is real Weysh. The class termed Komtee which is most common in Telingana, is the least degenerate. The other Banians in the Mahratta country are the Lingait, Goojur, and Jain. The Lingait, although their Banians reckon themselves Weysh, are, like the Jain, a distinct sect; they are divided into three classes, termed Silwunt, Punchum, and Tirulee; their Gooroos, or priests, are termed Jungum; they derive their appellation from wearing the Ling, an obscene symbol of both Mahdeo and Vishnoo. They will not eat what has been cooked by a Bra-min, and they differ in their religious tenets, denying the doctrine of metempsychosis; they are also deficient in some domestic observances rigidly practised by other Hindoos. The Goojur get their name rather from their country than their cast, being originally from Guzerat. There are also Bramins who are Goojurs. The Jains are not so common in Maharashtra as in the country south of the Kistna. A good account of this remarkable sect has been given by Colonel Mackenzie, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. ix.
12. Independent of other Hindoo observances, all classes of the Shunkerjatee have a sort of moral and religious government amongst themselves: they have heads or chiefs, now termed Muqudum, Chowdree, &c. &c. whose power seems to be the result of supposed suffrage, rather than of any regular election. There is no one Muqudum who has any very general authority in the Mahratta country; but all classes are subject to the same sort of rules: they are frequently strict in enforcing both spiritual and temporal observances. An infringement of what is customary is liable to a general inquiry in the community, every member of which may be readily roused to a jealous defence of what is considered either privilege or propriety. The lower casts of the Shunkerjatee are not less particular than the others; and hence it is, that in native regiments, the European officers often complain of having no trouble with affairs of cast except among low-cast men. For the origin of the Shunkerjatee, to those who may be desirous of acquiring minute information, reference may be made to Mr. Colebrook’s writings on the subject, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. v. The most remarkable thing in the classification of the Shunkerjatee is, that the offspring of the Shooder, with a woman of the Bramin class, is the lowest of all. The term Shunkerjatee, in the Mahratta country, is applied to the mixed classes, which, in many other parts of India, and in Sanscrit manuscripts, are styled Wurn Shunkur: this term is in use in Maharashtra, but is applied to any sort of employment in which a person may be engaged unbecoming his cast. A Bramin’s child by a slave girl is termed Sindey.
13. Kubheer lived a Mahomedan; but when dead, the Hindoos claimed him as a Sadhoo.
14. Though this be a name for those devotees who are rigid students for twelve years, all Bramin boys are termed Brimhacharee from the time of their admission into their cast, that is, from the period at which the ceremony of the Moonj is performed until the consummation of their marriage, when they become Grehusth, or householders. The ceremony of the Moonj is performed in all Hindoo families of the higher casts, of which the males may be entitled to use the Janwa, or distinguishing thread worn next the skin. This takes place when the boy is five or six years old, and the occasion is celebrated with more or less pomp, according to the wealth or poverty of the parents. The ceremony is performed by the household priest, who is called Gooroo, or Oopadheea, and, in itself, is merely fastening a piece of cloth about the child’s middle, and tying the Janwa diagonally across the body, over the right shoulder; whilst the Gayetri, a mystical Sanscrit verse, is pronounced by the child’s father, which all Bramins know, but none ought to disclose. Previous to this, the child is not a Bramin, or accountable for omissions or infringements in eating, bathing, &c. &c.
15. The Gaolees, or milkmen, hold the highest rank amongst the Shooders; some say by descent, others by their being born in employment about that most sacred animal the cow. Nawees, or barbers, from being frequently in contact with Bramins, likewise acquire a reflected superiority, but they are properly of the Shunkerjatee.
16. Hindoo devotees, who subsist on charity, are often indiscriminately termed Fuqeers by Europeans; though the term is applicable to Mahomedan beggars only.
17. An explanation of this word will appear hereafter.
18. Dass means servant; Huree is a name of Vishnoo. Hurdass, the servant of Vishnoo.
19. Their founder was Shunkeracharya: there are ten divisions of them, with some shades of difference in their observances; the ten are 1. Guree, 2. Pooree, 3. Bhartee, 4. Bun, 5. Arun, 6. Suruswuttee, 7. Teert, 8. Ashrim, 9. Sagur, and 10. Purwutt. To become a Gosaeen, such casts as wear the Kurgoota, or string round the loins, destroy it, and substitute a piece of cloth, if any covering be deemed necessary; and the person generally attaches himself to some one of the fraternity, as desirous of becoming a chela, or disciple. The novice may proceed thus far, and still retract: the irretrievable step by which he becomes a Gosaeen for ever, is in the ceremony called Home, which, in this case, must be gone through in the most solemn manner. It is performed by taking an earthen vessel, one cubit square, termed stundeel; this is to be filled with pure unmixed mould, over which powders of various colours are to be strewed; upon this a fire is kindled, and over the whole Ghee, or milk, is poured for a certain number of times, during which, munturs or mystical verses, are repeated, and vows solemnly made, of poverty, celibacy, and perpetual pilgrimage to the different holy places throughout India. Ghee is butter clarified by boiling. Milk is always used by a Bramin in performing the Home, on this, as well as on other more common occasions of daily occurrence. The disciples of a Gosaeen are obtained in three ways: voluntary followers, slaves purchased, and children obtained from parents who had vowed to make them Gosaeens previous to their birth.
20. Divested of the religious character of which they partake, Kuthas more nearly resemble Mr. Matthews’s entertainments of the present day, than anything to which I can compare them in England.
21. Mahdeo, it may be here observed, does not destroy indiscriminately, and is not the depriver of life; that occupation belongs to the goddess Mruttyoo; and as soon as the soul departs, it is carried to be judged by Yem Dhurm, who is the son of Soorya, (the sun,) an outar of Vishnoo. I have not met with Mahdeo as the renovator: and if that idea be taken from any similarity in character with the heathen deity Jupiter genitor, as alluded to by Sir William Jones, it is a fanciful notion, to say the least.
22. Byhroo, Joteba, Kundoba, and Parbuttee, under her name of Dewee-Bhowanee, are generally the Kool Swamy and Aradh of the Mahratta soldiery. In villages, temples to Byhroo, Luximee, and Gunputtee, are the most common.
23. The Mahapooroosh is frequently referred to as an oracle, and on predicting falsely, is often blamed by the disappointed individual, who declares him responsible for the unfortunate issue of the affair. On the other hand, when the Mahapooroosh is not so well rewarded as he might expect, he sometimes (though this is rare) threatens to withdraw his protection from a person so unmindful and so unworthy.
24. Bramins learned in the Shasters have the title of Shastree; in the Vedas, Waudeek; in both Shasters and Vedas, Pundit. Titles which much resemble those of the learned Rabbis in the Jewish synagogue.
25. The Poorans were written by Veas, an inspired Bramin, one of the seven immortal human beings. Walmeek, the author of the Ramayun, was, according to Mahratta legend, a Koolee, whose place of residence is pointed out near the Neera Bridge, at a village called Veerwalla, not far from Jejoory, and contiguous to the Poorundhur range.
26. In the transactions of the Bombay Literary Society, vol. iii. my reasons for this supposition are published.
27. Mentioned in old grants of land, engraved on copperplates.
28. He is said by some to have been a Koonbee, or cultivator, and by others to have been the son of a Koomar, or potter. The legends of the country call him an outar of Mahdeo. His mother, says the same authority, was the virgin daughter of a gamin, who becoming pregnant by a snake of a sacred kind, was in consequence supposed to be disgraced, and was driven from her father’s threshold; but she was received into the house of a potter, by whom she was protected.
29. There are various legends respecting Shalivahan, in different parts of India: this is what is current in Maharashtra, and it is not of importance to inquire whether this or that fable be the more probable.
30. First volume of Asiatic Researches, page 357.
31. Transactions of the Bombay Literary Society, vol. iii.
32. He is said to have built the following fifteen forts, viz. 1. Pawungurh, 2. Panalla, 3. Bhoodurgurh, 4. Bowra, 5. Kelneh, (or Vishalgurh,) 6. Samangurh, 7. Rangna, 8. Wussuntgurh, 9. Satara, 10. Chundun, 11. Wundun, 12. Nandgeeree, 13, Kelinja, 14. Pandoogurh, and 15. Wyratgurh. They are still known by these names, excepting, I believe, Bhoodurgurh.
33. Polygar in the Mahratta country, means one who has become independent, who refuses to pay revenue, and levies contributions from all those from whom he can enforce them.
34. Mahratta MSS. and tradition.
35. Meerasdar. This is a Mahomedan appellation, though is more general use than Thulkuree, which is the Mahratta word for the same sort of tenure.
36. Oopree literally signifies a stranger, and is here applied to the mere renter, in opposition to the hereditary occupant.
37. The following are the twelve Balowtay, and twelve Alowtay, according to the general, but not universal opinion of the Mahrattas; – First, Balowtay – The head of the twelve Balowtay is the carpenter. Second, the blacksmith. Third, the shoemaker and currier. Fourth, the Mhar, or Dher. This is a person of the very lowest order of Shunkerjatee, Wept the Mang; but on the village establishment his duties are very important. The Mhar acts as scout, as guide, frequently as watchman; he cleans travellers’ horses, and is obliged, if required, to carry the travellers’ baggage; he is a principal guardian of the village boundaries, and in Maharashtra, the Mhars are a very active, useful, and intelligent race of people. Fifth, the Mang, makes all leather ropes, thongs, whips, &c., used by the cultivators; he frequently acts as watchman; he is by profession a thief and executioner; he readily hires himself as an assassin, and when he commits a robbery, he also frequently murders. The Mangs are not so intelligent as the Mhars: both the one and the other eat the carcases of cattle that have died of disease, and are exceedingly filthy in many respects. Sixth, the potter. Seventh, the barber. Eighth, the washerman. Ninth, the goorow, who is a shooder employed to wash, ornament, and attend the idol in the village temple; and on occasions of feasting, to prepare the patrowlee or leaves, which the Hindoos substitute for plates. They are also trumpeters by profession, and in this capacity are much employed in Mahratta armies. Tenth, the joshee or astrologer, is a Bramin who calculates nativities, foretells lucky and unlucky days, &c. Eleventh, the bhat or bard. Twelfth, the moolana, so called by the Mahrattas, is the moolla, or Mahomedan priest; and it is very strange how he is found ingrafted on the Balowtay establishment of a Hindoo village; if on the Alowtay, which some say he ought to be, it would have been less unaccountable, especially, if we admit, as is frequently done, that the institution of the Alowtay must have been at a period long after that of the Balowtay; but this seems little more than mere conjecture – The moolana has charge of the mosques and burial places of Mahomedan saints, and manages the affairs of Enam, or free-hold lands attached to them. He performs the ceremony at Mahomedan marriages, and ought to be competent to all the duties of a Moolla; but he is very often found where there is no Mahomedan family except his own, and is known to the Mahratta population as the person who kills their sheep and goats when offered as a sacrifice at temples, or in their fields, to propitiate the deities presiding over the different stulls, or great divisions of the village lands. The. Moolana, likewise, kills the sheep for the Katik, who, although frequently mistaken for the butcher, is, in fact, the person who cleans and exposes the meat for sale. The Moolana is entitled to two pice (small copper coin,) and the heart of every animal he kills for the Katik. Some of the Mahrattas are unmindful of the ceremony, but in general they profess not to eat flesh, unless the neyt has been pronounced by the Moolana, or some Mussulman, capable of repeating what renders the flesh of any animal hullal, or lawful to be eaten. To account for this extraordinary adoption of Mahomedan observance puzzles the Hindoos. The Moolana has the same kind of allowances as the other Balowtay. Second, the Alowtay, are: First, the Sonar, or goldsmith, he is assayer of coins, as well as the maker of gold and silver ornaments for the richer inhabitants. Second, the Jungum, or Gooroo of the Lingait sect. Third, the tailor. Fourth, the Kolee, or water-carrier. Fifth, the Tural, or Yeskur, is a Mhar; but the Alowtay rights, which constitute the Tural’s emoluments, are distinct from the Balowtay of the Mhars. It is the duty of the Tural to remain in the village, and never to quit its boundary. He is at the constant call of the Patell, but his particular duty is to attend strangers, and take care of all travellers from the moment of their entering the village; of which, if walled, the Tural is porter. He furnishes all necessary information, as well as supplies to strangers, and is often extremely useful to them. His duties are very numerous. Sixth, the gardener. Seventh, the Dowree Gosawee, a religious personage who beats the Dour, a species of small tambourin. Eighth, the Gursee, or piper. The Gursees; as already noticed, are said to be descended from the aborigines of Dhund Karinya, the forest, or country between the sources of the Beema and Cavery. Ninth, the Ramoosee, or Bheel. These, although their office is the same when employed on the village establishment, are different casts of people, but they resemble each other in many of their habits; both are professed thieves. The Ramoosees belong more particularly to Maharashtra. The Bheels, in the Mahratta country, are only found in Candeish, and along the Syhadree range, north of Joonere. In villages, they generally hold the office of watchman; and when a country is settled, they become useful auxiliaries in the police; but under a weak government, or when anarchy prevails, they quit their habitations, and become thieves and robbers. The Ramoosees use the sword and matchlock: the Bheels more commonly the bow and arrow; the latter are less domesticated than the former. Bheels abound to the north of the Nerbuddah, and over the greater part of Guzerat. When employed on the village establishment, they are, in that province, called Burtinneas. Tenth, the Telee, or oil seller. Eleventh, Tambowlee, or pawn leaf vender. Twelfth, the Gonedullee, or beater of the tambhut, a double kettle-drum.
38. This is an argument against those Mahratta Patells, who claim a Rajpoot descent; but it is by no means conclusive, as there are proofs of their having, in many instances, purchased the office from the tribe called Kassar. The Patellship, owing to the Hindoo law of inheritance, and the Patell’s right of selling a portion, or tuqseemu of his wutun, is frequently divided and subdivided into two, four, or more shares amongst different families; and all the members of one of these families, the head of which holds any such share, call themselves Patell. In the same way the members of a Koolkurnee’s family style themselves Koolkurnee, and so on of all other hereditary offices. The Patell, who holds the chief managing authority, is styled Muqudum.
39. This has not always been the case; many of the Koolkurnees were Purbhoos; Sonars (goldsmiths); and Simpees (tailors). The Bramins excuse themselves for having entered upon worldly occupations, by the plea of necessity. “Mankind,” say they, “had become so corrupt, that charity to Bramins was not duly attended to, and hunger compelled them to adopt some means of obtaining food.”
40. Every Kusba has some usage in levying customs peculiar to itself; import and export, which, in England, refer to the kingdom, apply in India, where these duties exist, to import and export to and from the Kusba, or villages within its range. Thus, there are peculiar rates for the inhabitants of the Kusba, for the inhabitants of Mouzas dependent on the Kusba, and for persons coming from a distance, or from within the range of an adjoining Kusba. In cities, or large towns, where there are several markets, each separate division, where such a market is held, is called Pete, and is regulated in a manner nearly similar. Transit duties are of two sorts: one collected within the range of the Kusba, and the other a general transit through the country. The general transit is a ready-money payment, and was commonly, at least by the Mahomedans, reserved by government; but the right of collecting within the range of the Kusba is portioned in an intricate manner, and most of the permanent agents of government have some right to share in the customs, which, by them, are collected in kind. Many persons have pensions upon the customs; a right of levying a small share from certain articles, or exacting something from every one exposing their merchandize on a particular spot. These descend as hereditary, and with the divisibility common to all Hindoo property. Trade, in the Mahratta country, as far as authentic record exists, has always been a secondary object with the government.
41. The Mahomedans, who, like other etymologists, are sometimes very ingenious at the expence of correctness, derive this appellation from words of their own language: Dus, signifying ten, and Mookh, the fist; hence, say they, Deshmookh the tenth handful, which brings the signification to accord with the supposed original allowance of those hereditary officers. Desh, (or, in Hindoostanee, Des,) signifies a country; Mookh the mouth; and Mookhya a chief: the Mahrattas say the derivation is not from Mookhya, a chief, but from Desh, and Mookh, the mouth, or spokesman of a district. Many Englishmen have adopted the Mahomedan derivation.
42. Though the probability is, that the Deshadikars were, like most Hindoo institutions, hereditary, there are some circumstances for and against this supposition, which, as the question relates to my subject; as the origin of everything regarding the rights of the people of India, should be of importance; and as what I mention may be followed up by inquiries more satisfactory, I shall here submit these circumstances to the reader’s judgment – Adikar is a Sanscrit word, ‘signifying the first, or chief in employment, whether as applied to the prime minister of the state, to one deputed by him, or by the prince; it likewise signifies a right, possession, privilege, or inheritance; it is never, however, that I have found, used synonymously with Writtee, which is the Hindoo appellation of what is now more generally expressed in the Mall-rafts country by the name of Wutun. Adikaree signifies a possessor, an heir, one who possesses some right or privilege; it is also frequently used as the name of any agent of government, superintending revenue affairs. The name itself, therefore, is in favour of the supposition, that the Deshadikars did ‘exist as permanent hereditary officers; and that the Deshadikaree, like the Gramadikaree, was the principal superintendent amongst the body of relations for the time being. The reasons, however, for doubting this conclusion, and for supposing the Deshadikars distinct from, and superior to the Deshmookhs, are not unworthy of consideration. At the present day the Mahrattas generally preserve all the Mahomedan forms of address in their letters and official papers, unless they can revert to the ancient Hindoo words and forms with facility. On the occasion of granting Enam, or rent-free lands, of any village, wholly or in part, there are four separate Sunnuds, or deeds of gift made out: 1st. One to the grantee, always conferring the grant on him and his heirs for ever; 2d. One to the Muqudum, or managing Patell in the village; 3. One to the Deshmookhs and Deshpandyas; and 4th, one to the Deshadikarees. The three first are addressed to the parties simply; but to the fourth, the address is, “Raje sree Deshadikaree wo Lekuk, wurtuman bawee.” To the Deshadikarees and writers now and hereafter. The terms used for wurtuman bawee, in the Mahomedan grants are hal wo istuqbal, and these are seldom found substituted by the Mahrattas for the Sanscrit. Those who are inclined to defend the antiquity of the Deshmookhs’ rights say, this address is merely applicable to the present agents, who are collectors for the government, and occupy the place which was held by the chief, or managing Deshmookh; whilst others adduce it as an instance of there having been no permanent hereditary officer between the Patell and the sovereign, and this opinion they support by some plausible conjectures. The Deshmookhs and Deshpandyas; as now found, were, in the opinion of these last, an institution of the Mahomedans, when they first revolted in the Deccan, and adopted as an inducement for the Mahratta Naiks and Polygars to join their standard against the emperor; that they promised all such officers, and all Deshadikarees certain powers and immunities in their native district; and hence, the general introduction of the term wutun, an Arabic word signifying one’s native country. To support this opinion there is one curious circumstance:– In the oldest firmans of the Mahomedan princes of the Deccan, in the preamble to which the petition of the grantee is frequently inserted, all the claims to Deshmookhs’ wutun are made, either in consequence of former firmans, granted for services performed to the Beder king, (the name by which the princes of the Bahminee dynasty are designated in Maharashtra,) or, if the petitions be addressed to those kings, the application is made in consequence of claims, to which the petitioner considers he has an equal right, with other persons on whom wutun has been conferred agreeably to the king’s promise, should he succeed in establishing his independence, or, in the words of the petition, on his mounting the throne. I am inclined to suppose, from several specimens I have examined, that these firmans were forgeries, founded on an incorrect but popular Mahomedan opinion, and intended to impose upon the kings of Beejapoor, or rather the agents of that state. Their preservation in the hands of those holding the office is a proof that they gained their end. The Deshmookhs, however, are certainly of much greater antiquity than has been supposed by some men of great research, in other matters connected with revenue. Mr. Grant, for one, in his Political Analysis, fixes the date of the original institution in 1582, during the reign of Akber. One surmise in support of the antiquity of Deshmookhs and Dessaees is that of the Ceylon Dessauvas. I do not offer it as a conjecture of their having originated in that island; but any Bramin in Maharashtra, can tell, that Himadh Punt, the famous physician who cured Bibeshun the brother of Rawun, introduced the art of writing the Morh character, and several other hints useful to his countrymen, from the Rakshush, or Demons of Lunka.
43. This is one of the books of the Dhurm Shaster, and is considered of great antiquity; the author was the celebrated Rooshee Yadnewulkya.
44. Naik means master. Naik was a common title of the Mahratta chiefs in the service of the Mahomedans.
45. Writtee is a Sanscrit word signifying livelihood.
46. Wutun is an Arabic word, which means one’s native country, as explained in a former note.
This collection transcribed by Chris Gage