(32) Dhangar

Origin :

Dhangar — the shepherd and blanket- weaver caste of the Marathawada, which comprises the Districts of Aurangabad, Bir, Parbhani, Nander, Bidar, Usmanabad and a portion of Adilabad. The name ' Dhangar ' is derived by some from the Scfnskrit word 'Dhenugar' meaning ' cow-keeper'; but the etymology seems rather fictitious, for the Dhangars have never been known to tend cows. On the other hand, as shepherds, they form a distinct caste from the Gaulis, who tend cows and other milch cattle. The Dhangars have no traditions which will throw light upon their origin. In physical character and customs they resemble the Maratha Kunbis, which suggests that they are formed from them. 

Internal Structure :

The caste is divided into the following endogamous divisions : Khute Dhangars, Bargi or Hatker Dhangars and Jhade Dhangars. The Khute Dhangars are said to have received their name from \hutes, or the pegs by means of which they weave blankets. Bargi or Hatker Dhangars are described in a separate article. Jhade Dhangars are found in the Adilabad District. The origin of the name ' Jhade ' is obscure, but the word is a general term applied to other castes, such as Jhade Brahmans. The members of these sub-castes interdine, but do not intermarry. 

The exogamous divisions of the caste are of the Maratha type, as illustrated below : — Urade. Korde. Rode. Bagde. Khodpe. Latne. Kanade. Bhand. Kare. Harke. Chormare. Bomble. Pode. Pitale. Barde. Mirge. Gore. Dandwate. Shirgiri. Dhole. Nirali. Hatkavde. Kerwad. Sote. Gonde. Dukre. ' Nikande. Kale. 

Marriage in one's own section, as well as in one's maternal aunt's section, is avoided. A man may marry two sisters, and two brothers may also marry two sisters. Adoption is restricted to the members of one's own section. Outsiders are not admitted into the caste : a socially degraded man is re-admitted on payment of a fine. 

Marriage :

Girls are married both as infants and as adults, but the former practice is deemed the more respectable. Boys, but not girls, are dedicated to gods or temples. A girl is sent to her husband's house immediately after marriage, when presents of a goat and money are made to her. Cohabitation before puberty is tolerated. Un-married meg wishing to marry widows, are first wedded to a ring, all the cereflionies of a marriage being performed on the occasion. Polygamy is permitted, but is rarely practised on a large scale. 

The marriage ceremony of the Khute and Khutaphale Dhangars corresponds to that of the Maratha Kunbis. The marriage of the Jhade Dhangars is celebrated at night and opens with the Mangani rite (betrothal), in which the boy's father goes to the girl's house and marks her forehead with a spot of red aniline powder and presents h'er with a cocoanilt. Mothawida follows, in which two wooden stools are placed side by side in the court-yard of the house, covered with white cloth and decorated with designs of \unkum. The girl and her maternal uncle are seated on them and the bride- groom's father presents to her a sari, a choli, betel-leaves, areca nuts, and dates. Previous to the marriage, Mari Ai or Angana Devi is worshipped by sacrificing a goat to her, and a feast is provided in her name. At night the gondhal dance is performed in the name of the goddess Bhavani. A marriage booth is erected and a post, called mundha, made of salai (Boswellia thurifera), is planted to the right of the entrance. Twelve earthen pots are brought from the potter's house and two of these are filled with water and placed near the mundha. The bridegroom is bathed and is seated within a square formed by five earthen pots encircled with white wool. This wool is subsequently removed and fastened on the right wrist of the bridegroom. The same ritual is separately performed by the bride's party also. Then follow in order, the worship of the village and patron deities, the carrying of the bride enveloped in a blanket to the bridegroom's village, the adoration by the bridegroom in the temple of the village Maruti and, lastly, the wedding rite. The marriage dress consists of garments dyed yellow in turmeric water, which had been previously offered to the goddess. Just after the wedding, the pair are taken by the Brahman priest to the earthen platform built under the booth and seated thereon opposite each other, with a brass dish between them. The Brahman ties their garments into a knot and the couple exchange garlands of mock corals. After this, each parson present waves a copper or silver coin, according to his means, round the faces of the newly wedded couple and throws it into the ''dish. This ceremony is called Sulagna. On the third day after the wedding, Dand\)a is celebrated. A bride-price to the amount of Rs. 9 or Rs. 10 is paid to the girl's parents. Among the Khute Dhangars, a curious ceremony, called the Bir procession, is performed on the haldi day. A man, possessed by a bir (spirit of an ancestor) fastens round his waist all the images of the ancestors belonging to both the parties to be \s'edded ; saris (female garments) are tied crosswise across his breast and one shoulder. In one hand he takes a stick and in the other a winnowing fan. He makes frantic gestures and starts running, preceded by five men facing him and striking on the fan with canes in their hands. The moment he reaches the temple of Biroba, he lies prostrate on the blanket spread for the occasion. Incense is burnt before him, whereupon he recovers himself, gets up and returns home followed by all the men. 

Widow-Marriage :

Widows are allowed to marry again, the ceremony of widow-marriage closely resembling that in vogue among the Maratha Kunbis. Brahmans are not engaged as priest. Among the Jhade Dangars, a widow bride is more valued than a virgin and a bride-price ranging from Rs. 25 to Rs. 200 is required to be paid to her parents. Divorce is pemiitted in cases of adultay. The Hindu law of inheritance is observed by the caste. 

Religion :

Khandoba is the favourite god of the caste and is worshipped every Sunday and on Sat (the light sixth of Marga- shirsha) day, with offerings of sweetmeats. The implements of their craft— scissors, yeda, lavaki, nat and tulai— are also revered on Sat. Vithoba of Pandharpur is worshipped daily in every household. The Adilabad Dhangars worship Khudban, in the form of a wooden image bedaubed with vermilion. Other gods of the Hindu pantheon are also reverenced by members of the caste. Ancestral worship prevails, and no marriage is celebrated until those who have died in the family since the last marriage are installed as gods in the form of embossed plates. If any member of a Jhade Dhangar family is killed by a tiger, he is worshipped as Waghoba in the form of a 

stone set up on the boundary of the village. 

Child-Birth :

A woman after child-birth is ceremonially impure for severf^days. The child is named on the 12th day after birth and on the 15th day the goddess Satwai is propitiated. At the Divali festival, sheep are worshipped by the caste. 

Disposal of the Dead :

The married dead are burnt and the unmarried are buried, with the head to the south. Mourning is observed for three days. Among the Jhade Dhangars of Adilabad the dead body is washed, taken outside the house and offered cooked food. _When the funeral pyre is well ablaze, the coffin bearers and other mourners bathe, go to a liquor shop and, crushing mahua flowers {Bassia latifoUa) with their feet, drink liquor and return to the house of the dead. Next day the mourners, men and women, go to the cremation ground, taking with them one winnowing fan, three pieces of bread and one earthen pot. They collect the ashes and bones with the winnowing fan and throw them into the nearest river or brook. They then place on the spot the bread and the earthen pot, which is filled with water and covered with mango leaves. A small hole is made at the bottom of the pot so that the water may trickle out drc^ by drop and quench the thirst of the disembodied soul. The widow of the deceased breaks off her bangles and lucky necklace, and all return home after drinking liquor. On the third day after death the chief mourner gets himself shaved on the cremation ground and all, after bathing and drinking liquor, return to the house of the deceased, where a sheep is sacificed. The head of the sheep is buried under the spot where the deceased breathed his last and the rest is cooked and eaten by the household members. The Sradha ceremony is performed every year on the anniversary of death. 

Occupation :

The original occupation of the caste is grazing sheep and goats, and weaving blankets. Some of them are cultivators. They deal in sheep and goats and their wool, and sell the milk of ewes. They are often pjaid by the cultivators, who greatly value the sheep manure, to have the flock penned on their farms. They are also engaged as day labourers. 

Social Status :

The social position of the caste is just below that of the Maratha Kunbis. They eat from the hands of Kunbis, Malis, Hatkers, Brahmans and Komtis, while Hajams, Rangari, Dhobis and other low castes eat kflchi from the members of the caste. They eat mutton, fowl, fish and the flesh of deer, hare ^5nd some birds, and drink spirituous and fermented liquors. The Dhangars have a caste Panchayat. The headman is called mehetraya and decides all social disputes ; he is especially honoured on a marriage occasion with the present of a turban. 

Reference : 

'The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions' Volume 1, By Syed Siraj Ul Hassan (1920), Page 166 to 170.