Name of the Section - Anthropology and Archaeology

Name of the Section - Anthropology and Archaeology
Title of the paper - Dhankut: A wandering endogamous group of district
Bahraich( U.P.) in search of their social status in India.
Keywords - Dhankut, Bahraich, Gazette, SC/ST/OBC, Gullabeer, Marriage
- RangPar, Magni, Lagna, Bow and Arrow, Churi Pahnana, cross-cousin, Mahia, Birth
Ceremony- Khadua, Kanchhedan, Mundan, Death ceremony- Tija, Daswan, Tipakhi, Barsi,
Roti Dena, Bappa, Badke Bappa, Chat Ke Bappa, Dau,Mai,Phuphu, Panchayat, Nomadic
trader, fair- Aatho, Charai, Gagan, Ornament- kadua, Aren, Hasuli, Guleband, Murki, Gona,
Lakh and Silver bangles.
Abstract- What is our caste? Who are we? What is our social origin? Have we any social
identity? All these questions are related to "Dhankut" an endogamous" and socially
unidentified people of district Bahraich of Uttar Pradesh( India). They are not listed in any
Governemnt record nor have they been listed in the SC/ST/OBC category. So far, no study
has been carried out by any Govt., NGO or Sociologist -Anthropologist. No literature is
available about them. But their physical feature and cultural traits show their reality in caste
stratification and their memory based history explains a new chapter related to social status
of them, which was hidden in the past. This research work will add the Dhankut with
mainstream who were neglected after independence.
Section - Anthropology and Archaeology
Full Paper
Title - Dhankute: A wandering endogamous group of district Bahraich( U.P.) in search of
their social status in India.
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 Dhankute
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 outside the city limits until
five years from now, but due to the expansion of the population now they are in the middle of
the city.
Population- Nine thousand eight hundred ninety two(9892)
Male - 5308
Female - 4584
No literature in available about this group even in the district gazette. I have seen
every district gazette of Uttar Pradesh but no description is given about this group. Even their
name is not mentioned in these records. No research work has been done by any Government
agency or Sociologist/Anthropologist. So far, it is a remarkable point that they are very far
from the vision of academicians, so they couldn't come to light. They are an isolated, aloof
group of society while 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 "Dhankute". 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 caste or tribe, which is clear from their cultural traits and
physical appearance.
Philosophy of Dhankute name
This community is with a name "Dhankute" and their living place is known as "Dhankutty
pura", but during the research work this fact came to light that the name "Dhankute" 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 that
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
had also nothing for eating except paddy, but they felt the king's hunger and then 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 new name Dhankute, because after rubbing
paddy in your palm you have found rice. So you would be known as Dhankute”. After
getting this new name that group became happy. From that day those people are living with
this name. So this story makes it clear that it an adopted and an artificial name, but before
this adopted name what they were is a mystery till date. From this philosophy of name, it is
clear that they were either lower caste or tribe. so getting this artificial name, they adopted it
fully but reality became dark and due to the lack of education, they don't know their real
social status before the adoption of the name "Dhankute".
Caste – As per above said description – a pseudo picture comes about their caste. But no
description is given about their caste in gazette. 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
Dhankute name is not mentioned with any caste even in the Gazette, and this name Dhankute
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 Dhankute demanded for their
name proof because there population is large and is a major part of the city’s population.
Tehsildar again denied with this argument, “How can I certify this name Dhankute 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 Dhankute 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 Dhankute is 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 "Dhankute” 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 be either under any caste or casteless (tribe). Due to the absence of any history or
written material and lack of education, 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 worker (Shudra) as a laborer who
was carrying that paddy but it is not clear.
So their social status is ambiguous.
Physical Appearance- Their physical character resembles Mongolian, which is absolutely
different from the inhabitants of district Bahraich or plains. They are like the Tharu (a tribe
of U.P.) and this fact shows that they are migrated group (like Tharu) from the hilly area (due
to the Mongolian features. In the light of this point, they may be either a lower caste( porter)
or tribe.
Religion- Basically they are Hindu and worship its gods and goddess. As law also defines
“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 from the city.
Dhankute worship Gullabeer as traditional god, here only a chabutra is made. Every work in
Dhankute’s life like birth, marriage, death starts from its temple and also ends here.
Gullabeer is an important source regarding the social status of Dhankute. In this connection
Aatho ka Mela should 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 Dhankute find
themselves parallel to them. In this regard this mela makes it clears the social status of
Dhankute in district Bahraich, but Dhankute themselves don’t know their caste or subcaste,
while in the vision of Anthropology they should be the lower caste.
It is also a remarkable point that formerly lower caste group were not permitted to enter the
temple. They were not allowed to worship in the same deity’ s temple as the higher caste. In
this regard, lower caste groups made some pictures of supernatural powers, different from the
usual Hindu deities for their worship, and Gullabeer is directed 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. Dhankute community is a
patriarchal society. They don’t follow joint family rules. They believe an live in nuclear
family. The normal size of a family is 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 Dhankute
Bua Phuphu
Pita Bappa
Tau Badke- Bappa
Chacha Chhotke- Bappa
Tai Badki- Amma
Chachi Chhotki- Amma
Dadi Dai
Dada Dau
Mata Mai
Gotra – Usually in every caste or subcaste have its different gotra, but in the case of
Dhankute, it is absent and they don’t know also 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 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
They are typical endogamous group due to the absence of gotra and presence of single living
place “Dhankutty pura”. They are endogamous, no other caste group do their marriage
among them. Due to the influence of urbanization, they perform the same marriage system as
Hindus do but in some extents 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 comes with ‘Barat’ to grooms house.
All these points show that the girl has a prime role and importance in marriage as tribal do.
Other steps of marriage, which are different from “Hindu Marriage”, are in the following
manner
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 with weeping and 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 Dhankute of Bahraich are living within sphere of half
a kilometer radius. So it is wrong to say that they are very far or there 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 "Dhankute" 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 Dhankute.
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 in some extent.
Sarrorate Marriage - It is a frequent type of marriage among the Dhankutes. 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
Dhankute. 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. It made from mahua. They use it on all social
occasions.
Ornaments
Dhankute use different type 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
Dhankute 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, shows 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 grounds with men
which is not usual with 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 thje 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 an 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 is 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. It 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/-. Only one matter of divorce is in the court till today. 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 comprise. If both sides don’t agree and take divorce against the will
of the panchayat, a hard penalty is imposed for both sides. Now both the man and the woman
(the husband and wife) cannot remarry again. The have to lead a bachelor like existence. If a
man and woman does an inter-caste marriage that person is beaten by shoes and chappals as a
penalty. Panchayat also helps in those cremations, in which the affected family is poor.
TRADE
They 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
• Carpenter, etc.
Women also do indoor work and make dung cakes from cow dung. By selling these cakes,
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
Dhankutes 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 Dhankute choose the pair for marriage.
Conclusion
In this research work it is clear that Dhankute is a casteless community who are different
from the inhabitants of the plain areas in respect of their physical appearance. They do also
many rituals as the inhabitants of the hills do there marriage pattern, death ceremony and the
philosophy of their name Dhankute 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 gazettes are also silent in this connection. The
theme of my research work 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 future, and
for there 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 want happened to
this groups is unknown. Dhankute may be those Bhotia groups.
My humble suggestion is to the government of India- when Dhankute group is not clear in its
record they should be treated as a casteless society and should be listed in the scheduled caste
at least. It will be a great boon to them after independence.
Thank You.
ALOK CHANTIA SRF
Anthropology.