Indian Antiquary Vol 52

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 145

JUNE, 1923)
A KOLI BALLAD
129
"Many coat the soles of their shoes with wax and trample over his hoard; but the
pile of wealth never dries; never is he short of money : he goes on drying his gold and silver in full measure and never misses a coin, for Lakshmi ever fills his cellars. He is in truth a real mine of riches." The Governor in wonder then turned to Juran Påtel and asked him how much wealth he possessed, and the Patel answered:“Take away as much as you can by measure and by cartload."
“Straightway the carts are collected : they stretch in unbroken line from Sattad
to the Fort. The Governor, amazed at so much wealth, cried " Only express the wish and I will make you a Zamindar." But the Pâtel declined the honour, and added "My Lord, take away as much as you will; I only ask your permission to roof my house with silver tiles." The Governor demurred and suggested the use of Copper tiles instead. "Henceforth it shall be the special privilege of your family to use five copper tiles. This will make you famous, and songs will be sung in your honour: your name, O Koli Pâtel, will be more widely known than by the beating
of a battaki." “Though he is dead, the name of Juran Patel is known throughout India. His fame
will never die. This ballad in his honour was composed by Antone, son of Dhondu. Let us sing it, and let Enas (i.e., Ignatius, son of Antone) decorated with pearls and
diamonds, with the banner in his hand and the pipes in his mouth, make you merry." Antone's verses require some elucidation. In the first place it will be observed that the Parsi. who is called Båtliwala in the original verse, is identified by Antone Nakhwa with one of the Wadias. The surname Båtliwala is certainly that of the family of Sir Jam. shedji Jijibhai ; but among the lower-classes of Bombay, as I pointed out a few years ago in my Byways of Bombay, the word has become a synonym for millionaire, just as 'Shankarshet' has crept into use as the equivalent of rich and prosperous.' It is quite possible that Antone Nakhwa is correct and that the Parsi who figures in the Koli tradition was a member of the rich and well-known Wadia family, which was so closely connected with the Indian Government of old days as ship-builders and dockmasters in Bombay. Sáttad, ie, Seven Brab-trees, which still lives in the Såttâd Street of the modern municipal section of Mandvi, was for many years a well-known landmark and figured in 1793 as one of the portions of the disorderly area known as 'Dungree and the woods 'which were controlled by special police chaukis. The old Koliwada, which has now been shorn of its original character by the operations of the City Improvement Trust since the beginning of the twentieth century, was one of the original settlements of the Bombay Kolis, the earliest inhabitants of the Island, and was situated a good deal nearer the shore of the harbour, before the great reclamation carried out by the Frere Company and the building of the modern docks and quays changed the whole character of the eastern foreshore.
That Juran Pâtel was a wealthy man has been proved of late years by the constant apnaarance of his name in the old doouments and title-deeds relating to the properties acquired by the Improvement Trust in and around Mandvi. His total lack of education and his superstitious belief may have been responsible for the practice, attributed to him in the Ballad. of spreading his piles of money out to dry, in the same way that he and the Kolis in general spread the fish out to dry in the sun. According to the Kolis of to-day, Juran Pâtel's house was one of the few really strong houses in Bombay at the period of his prosperity, the walls being built upon an iron framework and the 'cellar,' which contained his piles of money.