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86
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
est tact and perseverance, but the duty is attended with considerable risk to those engaged in it. Colonel Hervey says that the Minâs of Upper Rajputânâ are Hindus of the straitest sect, and not only do Hindus of every denomination, high and low, drink from their hands, but all Thâkurs, Jâts, and Ahirs will even partake of food which has been prepared by them. Brahmays and Baniyâs alone refrain from eating of their food, or drinking from their vessels. They will, however, drink water which has been drawn by a Minâ, but not put it into any drinking utensil.
They never, under any consideration, intermarry even in their mother's got (circle of affinity) except after a remove of four generations. The installation of the Maharaja of Jaypur on the throne is not considered complete, unless the ceremony of fixing the tilaka, or mark of sovereignty upon the forehead, is performed by the headmen of the two gots or subdivisions of the chief tribes. The entrance. to the Mahârâja's zenana is even guarded by Minås, and they are also the constituted chaukid rs of the State. They do not, however, mix with the Pariyar Minâs, inhabiting Kherwârâ, and who eat the flesh of young buffaloes. These people are generally employed as sansis or common watchmen, and are looked upon as the police of the district; but the term applies to them only, and not to the higher occupation, as guards, of the Chaukidâr Minås. They are an unruly race, and committed so many excesses during the mutiny, and the period immediately succeeding, that it was considered necessary to place the tract of country in which they principally resided under a special officer styled the "Superintendent of the Minâ Districts." Special operations were conducted against them, under that officer's supervision, with the aid of troops supplied by the Darbârs of Mewâr, Bundi, and Jaypur, and by the ruler of the petty state of Sâwar, in Ajmir, whose villages in Kherwârâ were inhabited by the tribe. The result was that they were summarily quelled, and they have since settled down to the peaceful cultivation of their lands, and many of them now enlist in the Minâ Regiment, the Infantry portion of the Deoli Irregular Force, in which they are said to turn out smart soldiers. The Pariyar Minâs are, however, also addicted to robbery, although not to the extent the crime is committed by the Chaukidâr Minâs. While the Pariyar or Kherar Minâ is ignorant and superstitious, the Chaukidar Minâ is intelligent, and will only be deterred from his boldly designed enterprise of raid. and robbery by the occurrence of some appalling omen. It is a well-known fact that Shâhjehânpur is inhabited almost exclusively by Minâ plunderers, whose houses are built of substantial masonry, with upper stories,underground passages, and fine wells.
[MARCH, 1874.
They maintain fleet camels,some of which may be found secreted in their premises in readiness for an expedition, or but now arrived from some unknown raid, -cows, buffaloes, and goats are among their possessions; they live amid abundance and they want for nothing; their festivals of marriage, and other ceremonies, whether of joy or solemnity, are attended with lavish expenditure. Flesh is their food, and liquor their potation,-trinkets of gold and silver, and fine dresses udorn, on pleasure days, the persons of their females. Gold and coral necklaces, carrings, and good turbans are the display of the men,-bracelets and frontlets studded with various coins, ornaments, and parti-coloured garments the apparel of their children. Music and every requirement without stint form the accompaniments of their feasts, revelling and quarrel mark their termination. Plenty they have, plenty they spend, and plenty they bestow: there is no end to their charity. Ordinary people give alms to those who petition for it at their doors, but the charity of the Minâs of Shâlijehanpur is Sadddbart-it is perpetual-and invites all comers to partake of it. Corn and provisions are liberally distributed to those who seek for them,-a village grain-dealer is their purveyor by appointment, his dukán or shop is the granary from which all may be freely obtained, and a súdhu (holy man) is their almoner. And with all this profusion and munificence the men have no ostensible occupation, no means from which to meet so much extravagance. The place has an ap pearance of neglect and desertion from the continued and sometimes prolonged absence of the men; a few men only are to be seen as if idly sauntering about, some women drawing at the wells, or children seemingly at play at dispersed spots. But a curious observer may detect that a close intelligence is withal the part of them all-that the eye is restless and watchful, the child is signalling something, the woman's song is the voice of warning whether by word or intonation, and that the man's hangdog look cloaks quick furtive glances which connect him with persons who are peering through the high thorn fences of the cattleyards which project from each dwelling, or with others who flit from window to window or terrace of their labyrinthine and subterrancan abodes, and if a muster should be called, it will be found that the rolls are glaringly blank, and that French leave has been abundantly taken! What does all this mean, and from whence do these men really obtain their livelihood, and with so much to spare P
Whenever a Minâ is arrested, subscriptions are readily raised for his release, acquittal, or the annulment of the sentence which may have been passed upon him; and so certain is this course in the Rajwârâ or Native States that a Minâ or any
