Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s3.4

c48.s3.4

The Cāraṇ shares with the Bhāṭ the reputation of personal inviolability, and numerous cases are on record, extending even down to 1861, of their killing one of their girls or old women, or inflicting serious, even fatal, wounds upon their own persons, in order to fix the guilt of certain acts upon those opposed to them. In earlier times, from at least the 15th century downwards, both castes were the professional securities for the performance of a contract or the repayment of a debt, and no important document of this sort would be accepted as valid without the “dagger” and signature of a Bhāṭ or Cāraṇ at the foot of it. This practice arose, apparently, out of that of obtaining the guarantee or escort of one of these castes for every caravan or transport train from the coast across Central India. But the origin of the notion of the inviolability of the Cāraṇ is as obscure as in the case of the Bhāṭ. The Cāraṇ, it is true, has the reputation of being a violent and turbulent character, whose ghost is particularly vindictive and malevolent. The curse of a Cāraṇ, therefore, was powerful against one’s enemies, and a member of the caste used to be engaged, like Balaam, to accompany the army of the Chief to battle, and curse the foe. The women of the caste, too, are reprehensibly familiar with spells and charms, and in north Gujarāt, the tombs of some of them are worshipped like those of the local goddesses. On the whole, however, the sacredness of the office of an authoritative repository of the family pedigree and achievements seems to be the more probable source of the conception.