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126

unleavened bread, and vegetables. They cannot stand the sun, and therefore use umbrellas made of leaves. The women are chaste and hardy. The

Tharu believes

in -witchcraft,

and sorcery is commonly

practised.

Each mem-

ber of the tribe constructs a hollow mound opposite his door, and thereon This he considers sacred, and worships erects a stick like a phallus.' as an idol. These people observe the Holi festival with much ceremony. '

are divided into the Kana Batur and Malwaria and these do not intermarry. When one of the tribe dies, the body is painted with vermilion and saffron and placed before the mound already mentioned, and during the entire night an incantation is pronounced. This ceremony is supposed to be an aid to witchcraft, thus disand to prevent wild animals from eating the crops, pensing with the necessity of night watching. These people do not eonthey have no betrothals, and they marry suit Brahmans as to marriages during all the months of the year. Their houses are made of grass and mats raised above the ground and reached by ladders (from which fact those who dwell in malarious districts may well take a practical hint), and they all cultivate gardens. They are bold sportsmen, good marksmen, and expert game-snarers. They eat meat, but not the flesh of cows and buf"

The Muhamdi Thurus

stems,



faloes."

Opinions seem divided as to whether the Tharus are Hindus or not, but is very likely, owing to a difference of meaning, the one party applying the term Hindus to natives of Hindustan, the other to Aryans only. There seems little doubt that they belonged to the races which held Chittaur, but those were only very partially Aryans. The Tharus all retain the tradition that they were driven from Chittaur by Ala-ud-din Ghori ; they mean, of course, Ala-ud-din Khilji. It was usual in those times for Chhattris to change their names, in order to escape the sword of that emperor who had designed to destroy the whole fighting clan. The Tharus still relate with complacency how they fled, seeking in vain for shelter, till they reached the jungles of Khairigarh, where for the first time they rested, " thahre, " and hence their name. It is clear that their religion is not the Hindu faith ; they bury their dead, and have neither the fourfold division of caste nor any equivalent for it. Their village system is one prevalent among all the hill tribes, as is also their custom of eating The Tharus are very independent ; they retheir meals in the daytime. fuse all service, and never leave their forests. The Tharus of Gonda declare they came from Ajodhya. The Gorakhpur Tharus assert that they are descended from the Aut^r Chhattris who conquered Butwal under Batan Sen of Chittaur, and cohabited with women of easy virtue, as almost Mr. Carnegy remarks that " a number of tribes in all hill women are. these parts, besides the Tharus of the sub-Himalayan districts, for instance the Nats, Kanjars, the Brijbasis, the Sirmars," claim a Chhattri origin ; but most of them declare that they were formerly Rathors of Kanauj. this

There are no landed proprietors in the pargana except the Raja of Khairigarh, who owns 67 of the 70 villages, and Government which has the remainder. The Government revenue assessed at summary settlement was Rs. 17,386, and the present demand, which is liable to revision, is Rs. 49,633.