The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1903-07-03
THE TRIBES OF BOMBAY.
Singular Marriage Customs and 0th-
er Peculiar Practices OF
the People.


vey Of Bombay has been issued The
survey is being carried out under the
direction Of Mr.. r. +. Enthoyen, the
superintendent Of the provincial cen
sus, and, says the Bombay Gazette, it
is proposed to issue monographs Civ
ing as full an account as possible Of
the most important or most interest
ing tribes in the presidency. To make
the work of the survey as complete
and as accurate as may be, Mr.. En-
thoyen invites the assistance Of all
who may Re able to supply informa-
tion regarding the various castes in
to which the population is split up.
The educated members Of castles will
no doubt avail themselves Of the op-
portunity to submit materials con-
cerning the origin and customs of
their communities. They can also as
sist, as Mr. Enthoyen asks them to,
by useful criticism of the various
monographs as they are published,
for it is intended to finally republish
the whole of the series in a single
volume. The survey will include an
thropometrical operations, and be-
ginning in this direction has been al
ready made in making physical meas
urements Of Brahmans, Marathas,
Kunbis, Bhils and Mahars.
Totemism, which is still found in
certain tribes, and the survival of
particular marriage customs are
among the special matters in regard
70 which it is hoped that much new
information will be elected as a re-
suit Of the present investigations.
The monograph which has Just been
published is an account Of the Ahir
tribe, the materials for which have
been collected and compiled by Mr..
ID. r. Bhandarkar from the Bombay
Gazette and other sources. The
Ahirs number 104,s94, and are espe-
cially numerous in Khandesh, Mask.
Clutch and Kathiawar, by far the
largest numbers being found in the
two last named parts Of the presi-
dency The Ahirs of Clutch and Ka-
thiawar. however, differ considerably
from those Of the Deccan districts.
no doubt as the result of local influ-
enees. There have been various the
ories as to the origin Of the tribe,
but the conclusion now reached il
that they were at first a non-Hindoo
and non-Aryan tribe Of shepherds
or herdsmen, leading a nomadic life.
They were subsequently Incorporate
ed into the Goala caste. an expert
ence that occurred to many other
foreign Or aboriginal pastoral tribes.
It is considered probable that they
entered India from Afghanistan and
migrated from the Puniaub eastward
and southwark. They appear to have
held sway over Khandesh, Mask, Ka-
thiawar, Palanpur and Clutch. and the
greater part of Gooierat was in their
when the Kathis appeared
there in the eighth century. In
khandesh the Ahirs form so great a
of the population that
the KharI ~sh dialect Of Marathi is
called Ahirani and is spoken by
half the people. In Clutch and Kathi-
awar they have also preserved their
own dialect.
As 70 the customs of the tribe in
the latter parts of the country, the
widow of an Ahir marries her late
husbands younger brother. In the
Deecan the widow is generally mar
ried in the same way, or to her
cousin by her mother-in-law or aunt
in-law, though II she be an adult she
can marry any man she likes Tote
mistic sects exist among these peo-
pie showing their non-Aryan origin,
while the theory Of their foreign ORR
pin is strengthened by the fact that
the people Of one of their endoga-
nous sections are called Romabans. /
This is held 70 point to a foreign |
horde from RomalS. identified by SAN
skirt scholars with Alexandria and |
other places outside India where as
Eronomy was studied. The mono
graph of the Ahirs IS an admirable /
Of the series 70 be pub
ished. and indicates the valuable re-
suits which win accrue from the sur
'ey now being carried out
The First Post once.
In 1865, early in the reign Of Louis
XIV. NJ. de Nelayer established