anthropology of Dhankut of Bahraich district: an observation

Anthropology Of Dhankut : An Observation
What is our caste? Who are we? What is our origin (social)? What is our past? Where
do we stand in society? Are we only Homo? All these questions can be heard in Dhankut
community - an endogamous socially unknown group of district Bahraich of Uttar Pradesh.
Living Place- District Bahraich (border of Nepal) which is between 27' 04' and 28' 24' N
latitude and 810 03' and 820 13' longitude.
Their living place is known as "Dhankutty Pura" which was outside the city limits
earlier, but due to the expansion of the population now they are in the middle of the city.
Population- According to 2001 Census 2687 Dhankut are living in Dhankuttypura of
Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. No literature in available about this group even in the
district gazetteer. I have seen every district gazetteer of Uttar Pradesh but no description is
given about this group. Even their name is not mentioned in these records. So far, they have
been very far from the vision of academicians. No research work has been done by any
Government agency or Sociologist or Anthropologist so as to bring them to light. It is an
isolated, aloof group of society even though they are living in the middle of the city.
SC/ST/OBC benefits are not for them. In this regard they are only Homo-Indian with an
artificial name "Dhankut". I have done my research on this group and my work shows that
they are not a general group. It is a latent isolated group of any particular caste or tribe,
which is clear from their cultural traits and physical appearance.
Philosophy of Dhankut name
This community is living with a name "Dhankut" and their living place is known as
"Dhankutty pura". During the research work this fact came to light that the name "Dhankut"
is an artificial name which was adopted by them. In this connection they tell a story in the
following manner-
Once upon a time some people were passing through a jungle with a sack of paddy. At the
same time a king was also in the jungle for hunting. At noon, the king felt hunger, but he had
nothing. When he saw a group of men with some items, He told them about his hunger. They
also had nothing for eating except paddy, but they felt the king's hunger. They took paddy on
their palms and rubbed it, by this process; they found rice and cooked it. After eating the rice,
the king felt relief and said to those people, “You have done a great job by satisfying my
hunger, so I am giving you a name Dhankut, since by rubbing paddy in your palm you have
found rice. So you would be known as Dhankut”. After getting this new name that group
became happy. From that day those people are living with this name. This story makes it
clear that it an adopted and an artificial name, but before this adopted name what they called
themselves is a mystery till date. From this philosophy of name, it is clear that they were
either lower caste people or a tribe.
Caste – As per above said description – a pseudo picture comes about their caste. But no
description is given about their caste in gazetteer. Government is not ready to list them under
any caste without any proof. As on date, ten applications pertaining to caste certificates are
pending in the office of Tehsildar Bahraich. Even after passing a long time( over two years)
the Tehsildar is not issuing the caste certificates. According to him, “In government record
Dhankut name is not mentioned with any caste even in the Gazetteer, and this name Dhankut
is also not listed as a group who are living in district Bahraich.” So it is impossible to give
them any caste certificate without any authentic proof. When Dhankut demanded for their
name proof, Tehsildar again denied with this argument, “How can I certify this name
Dhankut if it is not given in any record. If it is a caste group it should be under some caste or
sub-caste, but it is not so.” In this sense Dhankut is a casteless society in the vision of
Government record. It is also crystal clear fact that Government has not listed them in
SC/ST/OBC.
Now the question is "Is it true that Dhankut is living without any caste in society?" If not,
what is their real social status in society. As I have explained earlier, the King's story in the
jungle. In this story, it is shown that the name "Dhankut” is an adopted name as a reward
from the king to these people who were passing through the jungle. So before this adopted
name, they would have been either under any caste or tribe. Due to the absence of any history
or written material, it is difficult to say anything about their social status. If we analyze the
latent facts of this story, it is clear that
1. They were not Brahmin because from the beginning of caste stratification Brahmin is
supreme. So why would they like to lose their identity by the adoption of an artificial
name. Here it is noticeable point that this name is fully adopted as a surname.
2. King was a Kshatriya, so he would not like to give the same rank as he had, and their
carrying paddy shows that they were not Kshatriya.
3. They may be either Vaish as sellers of that paddy or workers (Shudra) as labourers who
were carrying that paddy but it is not clear.
So their social status is ambiguous.
Physical Appearance- Their physical character resembles that of Mongolian, which is
absolutely different from the inhabitants of district Bahraich or plains. They are like the
Tharus (a tribe of U.P.) and this fact shows that they are from a migrated group (like Tharus)
from the hilly area (due to the Mongolian features. In the light of this fact, they may be either
a lower caste( porter) or a tribe.
Religion- Basically they are Hindu as they worship its gods and goddesses. As Hindu law
also defines that “those who are not Parsi, Muslim or Christian will be known as Hindu”.
They have their own Lord Shiva and Shakti temple, but their main faith is in “Gullabeer”.
Gullabeer – It is a sacred place in district Bahraich which is two kilometers away from the
city. Dhankute worship Gullabeer as traditional god, here only a chabutra is made. Every
work in Dhankut’s life like birth, marriage, death starts from its temple and also ends here.
Gullabeer is an important source regarding the social status of Dhankut. In this connection
‘Aatho ka Mela’ need to be explained. This mela is celebrated on the very first Tuesday after
Holi. Here they worship Gullabeer by making a special halwa and this process is known as
“Kadhi Charawah”. Gullabeer has an important place in the other caste groups of Bahraich.
On this day other caste groups come for worship of God Gullabeer. These groups are – Kori,
Kahar, Pasi, Chamar, Khatik, Kashyap, Manihar, Madeshia, Dhobi, Lodh, Jamadar,
Carpenter, Barhi, Kurmi, Maskod, Chai, Mallah, Lonia, Kasor, Kai, Beldar, Patua, Lakher,
Khadua, etc. The gathering of these groups on ‘Aatho ka Mela’ shows that the Dhankut find
themselves parallel to them. In this regard this mela makes clear the social status of Dhankut
in district Bahraich. Though in the vision of Anthropology they should be the lower caste,
but Dhankut themselves don’t know their caste or sub caste. It is also a remarkable point that
formerly lower caste groups were not permitted to enter the temple. They were not allowed to
worship in the higher caste deity’s temple. In this regard, lower caste groups made some
pictures of supernatural powers, different from that of the usual Hindu deities for their
worship, and Gullabeer is directly connected to this fact. ( A place of worship for lower caste
groups in the form of Chabutra.)
Family – Family is a unit in the formation of a community. Dhankut community is a
patriarchal society. They don’t follow joint family rules. They believe in nuclear family. The
normal size of a family consists of 6 members. Property is inherited from the father to the
son. When a woman comes to her father’s home after a divorce, she also gets an equal part of
the property, but is responsible for her own livelihood.
Kinship – They use different words for relations in the following manner.
In General In Dhankut
Bua Phuphu
Pita Bappa
Tau Badke- Bappa
Chacha Chhotke- Bappa
Tai Badki- Amma
Chachi Chhotki- Amma
Dadi Dai
Dada Dau
Mata Mai
Gotra – Usually every caste or subcaste have its different gotra, but in case of Dhankut, it is
absent and they don’t know about their gotra.
Birth Ceremony
No special ritual is performed but some cultural formalities are performed which are as
follows:
Khadua: It is a type of bangles made of silver (according to the economic condition of the
family) for the hands and legs of a new born child, which is given to the baby by the maternal
side.
Kan Chhedan : On the very first “Makar-Sankranti’ after the birth of a child, this ritual is
performed. After this festival, the child wears a ring in the ear which is known as “Murki”.
Mundan – This ritual is performed at the age of three or five at “Gullabeer”. A “Biradari-
Bhoj” is also given.
After delivery mother and child go to worship “Gullabeer”.
Marriage Ceremony
It is a typical endogamous group due to the absence of gotra and due to their presence in
single living place “Dhankutty pura”. Due to the influence of urbanization, they perform the
same marriage rituals as Hindus do but to some extent they differ from other castes-
1. Proposal of marriage comes from groom side to bride side.
2. All matter about marriage is decided at the bride’s home.
3. Upto 1970 the bride used to come with ‘Barat’ to groom’s house.
All these points show that the girl has a prime role and importance in marriage as tribals
have.
Other steps of marriage, which are different from “Hindu Marriage”, are –
Ranga Parna – It is the first step or beginning of the marriage, when the groom side goes to
the bride side for marriage. It is on the bride side whether they accept the proposal or not. If
they accept, they paint each other with different colors on the face and body. This ceremony
establishes that both sides are equal in every respect.
Mangni – After the Ranga Parna ceremony the groom’s side visit the bride’s side again, on
a fixed day and demand for the girl. They come with curd (Dahi), mithai, batasha. The
important point of ‘Mangni’ is to fix the date of the marriage and Lagna.
Lagna - It is same as the "Hindu's Tilak" ceremony but in Hindu marriage "Tilak" from the
bride's side but in Lagna. It comes from the groom's side, which includes rice, pulse (urad),
batasha, dahi, gud, fish and five plates made of leaves of teak tree, all these material are
distributed by the brides side in their relatives.
The whole marriage process is same as Hindu marriage, but some terminology is different as
are given below:
Barvaiye- The first day of marriage in which the relatives sing songs the whole night.
Kangna - It is the ceremony on the second day after marriage, in which the sister of the
groom taking rice from paddy ties it up on the hand of her brother, from this day the groom
can't go outside.
Kukhri - On the marriage day the brother-in-law or any parallel relative makes a janeu by
rounding a thread around the mandap for the groom.
Badhava - It is an important ritual in which all sisters of the groom gather together and sing
songs.
Bhent - It is also an important ritual after the Badhava, when all sisters of groom are
gathered under the mandap. They meet each other, while weeping they sing a rhythmic song
in which they complain to each other over meeting each other after such a long gap. They say
that now they are very far from each other, so it is difficult to meet. But in context of
Bahraich, it is very strange because the Dhankut of Bahraich are living within sphere of half
a kilometer radius. So it is wrong to say that they are very far or there is a long gap in
meeting, but this song shows a latent mystery which disclose their original native place.
Definitely they come from a place where marriages are not limited to a village. Within a
given region there would be more than one village and these villages are very far apart as in
the case of hilly regions.
Chhaya Parna - If the mother of the bride or groom is not alive, then every ritual is done by
the mausi or any parallel relative, but at the time of marriage, the atma(soul) of the mother
comes on the mausi or relative and asks about the girl or boy. After satisfactory answer, the
atma returns back. Here "Bhava Aana" is very popular as in tribals.
Bow and arrow - A bow and arrow goes to the brides home in a bucket with the groom at
the time of marriage. If the bride accepts it then it is an acceptance of the groom as a
husband.
Nau - Nau has a prime role in "Dhankut" community, he carries out all the tasks as a pandit
does in a Hindu marriage.
Pandit - In this community 'Pandit' has no value but due to the influence of Hindu custom,
they also invite the pandit to show their higher position in the society but in the marriage the
pandit's role is negligible.
From the above said facts there are five types of marriages frequent among Dhankut.
Churi Pahnana - It is a symbolic type of marriage. In this marriage, no long ritual is
performed. If a girl accepts a bangle of lakh and vermilion is given by the groom, that girl is
considered to be the wife of that boy from that time.
Widow Marriage - This marriage is also found to some extent.
Sarrorate Marriage - It is a frequent type of marriage among the Dhankute. If the wife dies
or is infertile, the groom marries his sister-in-law.
Levirate Marriage - If husband dies, the wife of dead man marries her brother-in-law, this
marriage is generally seen.
Cross-Cousin Marriage - It is the most frequent and popular type of marriage among the
Dhankut. The son of bua and the daughter of mama may join the institution of marriage.
They are very much against inter-caste marriage, which is one of the factors why they
are an endogamous group.
Bangle of Lakh – It is a sign of marriage. If a lady wears this bangle, it symbolizes her
marriage.
Silver Bangle It is sign of widowhood.
Attire of Marriage
The male wears jama-jora (kurta-pyjama), pagri and a long piece of cloth across the chest.
The female wears sangi ka lengha, chunri, full sleeve kurta and lakh bangles.
Sharab
They consume alcohol in large amounts made from mahua. They use it on all social
occasions.
Ornaments
Dhankut use different types of ornaments on various occasions.
a) By Females:
Lakh bangles - by married lady.
Silver bangles - by widows.
Lachhi - in leg.
Guluband - in neck.
Kamarband - in waist
Aren - in ear
Bajuband - on the upper arm
Godna - in any part of the body.
a) By males:
Murki - in ear
Khadua - bangles for the arms and legs
Hasuli - at the time of marriage the groom wears it in the neck, until the
end of the marriage.
Almost all these ornaments are made of silver.
Death Ceremony
Dhankut community is different in respect of death ceremony from the other communities of
the plain. Among them terahvi is not performed as the Hindu do. In this community dasvan is
performed as hilly communities do.
Tija – After the cremation this ritual is done on the third day after the death. The person who
lites the pyre, goes to the funeral site after three days and clears the cremation ground, with
water and cow dung, and collects the remains in an earthen pot. The ladies of the dead
person’s family consume salt in their food on that day. On the same day, the person who had
cleared the funeral site consumes salt in his food., but after this day he again gives up salt
upto daswan. If the economic condition of the family of the dead man is good, then the
person who had cleared the funeral site goes to Prayag (Allahabad) or Haridwar with the
remains of the dead person, and dips the remains in river. But if the economic condition is
not good, then this event is delayed till the person can afford it.
Daswan- This ceremony is performed ten days after the death. All the male members shave
of their heads at the funeral grounds. One person from every family must be in cremation. If
absence is found from any family then penalty is imposed by the Panchayat.
If the tenth day is Sunday or Tuesday, daswan is done on the eleventh day but cannot be
preponed, in case of the male. But in the case of women daswan is performed on the seventh
day of the death but cannot be postponed after that day. This shows the inferior position of
the women in this community. But women accompany men to the funeral ground with men
which is not usual among Hindus.
If the dead man is married, the widow of the dead man gives up all those items, which is the
sign of marriage. Now she wears silver bangles and white dhoti. On the tenth day the widow
does not come out from her room in front of the family and the community. The whole day
she remains locked up in her room. On this day, a “Biradari Bhoj” is also given after which
life assumes its normal course.
Tipakhi – This ritual is the farewell of dead man after which he becomes forefather. After
forty-give days of the death this ritual is performed, it is also known as roti- dena, because it
is a complete farewell of the dead man in which pandits are invited and everything is given to
them which was favorite of the deceased.
Barsi – It is an adopted ritual from the Hindus, its date is not fixed and can be carried out at
any time.
PANCHAYAT
It is a five to seven member committee of the village elders. Its rules and regulations are very
strict and are applicable to all the members of the community. They gather for panchayat at
Gullabeer. If any body disobeys the panchayat he is socially boycotted and nobody interacts
with him. If that person repents for his actions, he can again join the community with the
permission of the panchayat, but for it he pays the penalty and gives a bhoj to the
community. Maximum numbers of the matters of the panchayat is related to marriage,
divorce, etc. They do not prefer to the court to supercede the panchayat. If a person wants to
go to the court for justice for dispute, panchayat helps the other party in all respects. The
head of the panchayat is known as the Chowdhary. The presence of one member of every
family is must at the day of panchayat otherwise the absent person, pays a fine to the
panchayat, at least Rs. 50/-. They like to solve every dispute in the panchayat.
If panchayat considers in case of divorce that the matter is not sufficient for the separation in
their vision, they try for a compromise between the parties.. If both sides don’t agree and take
divorce against the will of the panchayat, a penalty is imposed on both sides. Now both the
man and the woman (the husband and wife) cannot remarry again. The have to lead a
bachelor like life. If a man and woman goes for an inter-caste marriage that person is beaten
with shoes and chappals as a penalty. Panchayat also helps in those cremations, in which the
affected family is poor.
TRADE
Dhankut are engaged in different trades but the main trade is to sell the cereals from door to
door. In this respect they are mobile traders like Bhutia. They also do some other trade like:
• To pull horse cart.
• Betal shop
• General merchant
• To sell wood
• Carpentry, etc.
Women also do indoor work and make cow dung cakes from cow dung. By selling these,
they earn money which helps in the betterment of the family. Due the lack of agricultural
land, government services, and ancestral property their economic condition is very poor.
Agriculture
They have no agricultural land.
Education
In this group education is not sufficient . Only 5% people are educated upto tenth and 15%
upto fifth standard. Only three people are in D class government services.
Fair and festivals
Dhankut celebrate many fares and festivals as Hindus do, but some are celebrated only by
this community.
1. Aatho Ka Mela- This fair is celebrated at the very first Tuesday after Holi, at Gullabeer(
described on previous pages)
2. Charai Ka Mela – It is celebrated on the third Sunday of May. It is also very popular
among the Tharu tribe. This fair is mainly related to marriage settlement.
3. Gagan Ka Mela - In this fair the Dhankut choose the pair for marriage.
Thus it can be said that Dhankut is a casteless community who are different from the
inhabitants of the plain areas in respect of their physical appearance. They perform many
rituals as the inhabitants of the hills do in there marriage ceremonies and death ceremonies.
The philosophy of their name Dhankut show that they are a latent isolated group who are
wondering about their reality. Due to their poor economic condition, lack of education, they
could not maintain any history or past in writing. So they are unable to tell their real native
place and caste. Government records and gazetteers are also silent in this connection. Mine
aim is only to put this group in front of the society, especially in front of the academicians
and an endeavor to write a brief history about this group for their betterment. Here it is also a
notable point that Mr. M.P. Joshi, has written in his book “Himalaya – Past and Present” that
some groups of Bhotia tribe came in Tarai belt for trading in the beginning of the nineteenth
century, in the course of time what happened to this groups is unknown. Dhankut may be
those Bhotia groups.
My humble suggestion to the government of India is that when the caste of Dhankut group is
not clear in its records they should be listed in the scheduled caste at least. It will be a great
service to them who are searching for their identity.