Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s5.2
Indische Paläographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s5.2
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c48.s5.2.1
§ 70. **Shepherds and Woolworkers** (4,265,600). These two occupations go together, and are exercised by several communities of considerable numerical importance. Their social rank varies a good deal, but, in spite of alleged descent from the Jādav family of Mathurā which some of them claim, they stand, on the whole, lower than the breeders of horned cattle. There are, however, exceptions, such as the Gaḍḍi of the Panjāb Himālaya, who are of the same stock as the Khatrī, and rank but little below the Hill Rājputs. They are admittedly wellborn, and state that they were driven from northern Rājputāna by the Muslim and took refuge in the Kāngra and Chamba hills. Like all the shepherd classes, they weave the wool of their herds, both sheep and goats, into strong homespun and blankets. They are also credited with being very skilful and industrious cultivators of the upland regions affected by them. They have no connection with the caste of the same name along the Jamnā, which is Muslim and a branch of the Ghōsī, mentioned above amongst the cattle-breeding castes. The chief shepherd caste of the Ganges valley is the Gaḍariyā, or Gaṛēṛī, as it is called in Bihār. In that Province it ranks higher than in the west, but its home is alleged to be in the latter, and some of its divisions derive their origin from Marāṭhā shepherd clans who came north through Mālvā and Gvalior. One of the chief shrines at which the caste worships is in the last named State.
c48.s5.2.2
The name of the caste is said to come from the Sanskrit name of the country, Gandhāra (or Kandahār) from which the animal was said to have been introduced into India. Judging from physical appearance, however, the Gaḍariyā and, except the Gaḍḍī, the shepherd castes generally, have much more Kōl or Dravidian blood in them than the western cattle-breeder. The Dhaṅgar of the Marāṭhā country, indeed, is by some identified with the Dhāṅgar, or Orāon, of the eastern portion of the Central Belt, a large tribe which is thought, mainly on linguistic grounds, to have pushed its way up north from the Karnatic. Even in the present day, too, the Dhaṅgar build their shrines in the same way and of the same sort of unhewn stones as the Kuṟubar of the Karnatic, a once dominant tribe of the south, to which belonged the Kadamba dynasties of Banavāsi in Kanara and the Pallava dynasties of the Tamil country. The Dhaṅgar are now, however, a Marāṭhi-speaking community, hardly to be distinguished from their Kunbī neighbours. The Holkar Chief of Indore belongs to this caste, and still enjoys hereditary grazing rights in parts of the Dekkan and some of the best of S'ivaji's celebrated "Māvalī" troops were Dhaṅgar. Some of the Dhaṅgar return themselves as Hātkar, a title for which more than one definition is available.
c48.s5.2.3
In some cases, as in the south Dekkan, the Hātkar may by now be a subcaste, as those who use the name are almost all blanket weavers, whereas the Dhaṅgar does not always make up his own material. The derivation of the caste title is uncertain. It has been connected with "*dhan*" wealth, or cattle-dealing, an occupation which a few of them still follow in the south, though most devote themselves to sheep and goats. In those parts, it should be mentioned in connection with the above derivation, the peasant habitually refers to his cattle as Dhan, or Lakṣmī, that is, the pecunia, or wealth par excellence. The name of the Kuṟubar, too, is used for sheep in Kanarese. In the south, the caste is called Kuṟumban. There are two sections; the pastoral and the Kāḍu, or Jungle, Kuṟubar. The latter are hunters and dwellers on the outskirts of the Nīlgiri and other forest ranges, and are still in a very unsettled condition. They are probably the remnants left behind when the Kuṟubar of the open country swept down towards the south-east, and took to cultivation. Even now, the shepherd sections have elaborate rites and forms of worship alien to those of the rest of the villagers, and are regarded as not quite assimilated into the community. The Tamil shepherd is the Iḍaiyan or those who live by the "middle" group of the village lands, that is, the pasture. By some of the modern members of the caste the name is derived from Jādav, connecting them with Mathurā and the Kṛṣṇa legend.
c48.s5.2.4
Unfortunately for this tradition, the names of their subdivisions in some cases connect them with the Paraiyan. Their present rank, however, is far above that of the latter, and they are received by respectable castes, in view, it is stated, of their use in the provision of clarified butter, a pure and popular article in the household. The Bharvāḍ of Gujarāt, belongs, apparently, to the Mēr, one of the derelicts of a Scythian inroad, which left them in Sindh and the west of Rājputāna. This caste shares with the Khaḍvā Kaṇbī the peculiarity of celebrating its marriages only at long intervals, such as 10, 15 or even 20 years. The occasion, as may be reasonably supposed, is one of prolonged and uproarious revelry, mingled with elaborate ceremonial, the details of which are doubtless of considerable ethnological interest. The Bharvāḍ is also connected with the Rābārī, already mentioned as the camel-breeder of Rājputāna. They worship goddesses, especially Mātā, under various manifestations, and have the usual reputation of wanderers for remarkably potent spells and charms, which ensures them respect. Nearly all these castes, north and south, are the subject of proverbs commenting upon the stupidity of their men and the slovenliness or dirt of their women. The last attribute may be due to the practice of wearing homespun woollen garments, the durability of which exceeds the means or desires of the wearer for purification.
c48.s5.2.5
In addition to their dealings in woollen fabrics and, amongst some castes, the provision of sheep and goats for slaughter, the shepherd earns a good deal by the sale of the manure of his flock. In upper India it is the practice to sweep the place where the latter was penned for the night, and sell the results. In the south, the utilisation of the product is more complete, and an occupant pays the shepherd for penning for so many nights upon the sites selected for the purpose.