Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/50

 MEOS. (350)

HE Meos are another instance of Hindoos partially converted to Mussulman profession. They assert that they were originally Goojirs of a high class, but were forcibly converted by the Emperor Aurungzeeb, or at least in his reign, and adopted the Mussulman faith in dread of losing their lands. They are by no means so much Mussulmans as the Guddees, for members of a family will have Hindoo or Mussulman names as it may happen, and all observe many Hindoo ceremonies and domestic customs, while some worship as Mussulmans, others as Hindoos. Their women are not secluded, and they marry exclusively in their own tribe.

The Meos are found for the most part in Mewat, a tract of country bordering upon Bhurtpoor, Ulwar, and Goorgaon, of the Delhi district. They are not migratory or unsettled. While they profess to be Mussulmans, they have great veneration for a local saint, Salar, by whom they swear. Salar is a Mussulman name, and may probably be that of the person by whom their conversion, such as it is, was made. Their principal occupation is cultivating the soil, but they have not a good character hi general, being addicted to thieving and cattle lifting. The Meos eat meat, drink spirits, and are in no respect abstinent. It will be remarked, perhaps, in relation to all the Photographs of these half-converted tribes, that they wear the Hindoo dhoty, or loose cloth, instead of the Mussulmari paejama, or drawers. In other respects the costume requires no remark: it is that common to all agricultural classes.