Gonds explain the totemistic names of their septs by saying that some incident connected with the animal, tree or other object occurred to the ancestor or priest of the sept while they were worshipping at the Deo-khulla or god’s place or threshing-floor. Mr. Ganga Prasād Khatri has made an interesting collection of these. The reason why these stories have been devised may be that the totem animals or plants have ceased to be revered on their own merits as ancestors or kinsmen of the sept, and it was therefore felt necessary to explain the sept name or sanctity attaching to the totem by associating it with the gods. If this were correct the process would be analogous to that by which an animal or plant is first held sacred of itself, and, when this feeling begins to decay with some recognition of its true nature, it is associated with an anthropomorphic god in order to preserve its sanctity. The following are some examples recorded by Mr. Ganga Prasād Khatri. Some of the examples are not associated with the gods.
Gajjāmi, subsept of Dhurwa sept. From gaj, an arrow. Their first ancestor killed a tiger with an arrow.
Gouribans Dhurwa. Their first ancestor worshipped his gods in a bamboo clump.
Kusadya Dhurwa. (Kosa, tasar silk cocoon.) The first ancestor found a silk cocoon on the tree in which he worshipped his gods.
Kohkapath. Kohka is the fruit of the bhilawa58 or marking-nut tree, and path, a kid. The first ancestor worshipped his gods in a bhilawa tree and offered a kid to them. Members of this sept do not eat the fruit or flowers of the bhilawa tree.
Jaglya. One who keeps awake, or the awakener. The first ancestor stayed awake the whole night in the Deo-khulla, or god’s threshing-floor.
Sariyām. (Sarri, a path.) The first ancestor swept the path to the Deo-khulla.
Guddām. Gudda is a place where a hen lays her eggs. The first ancestor’s hen laid eggs in the Deo-khulla.
Irpāchi. The mahua tree. A mahua tree grew in the Deo-khulla or worshipping-place of this sept.
Admachi. The dhaura tree.59 The first ancestor worshipped his gods under a dhaura tree. Members of the sept do not cut this tree nor burn its wood.
Sarāti Dhurwa. (Sarāti, a whip.) The first ancestor whipped the priest of the gods.
Suibadiwa. (Sui, a porcupine.) The first ancestor’s wife had a porcupine which went and ate the crop of an old man’s field. He tried to catch it, but it went back to her. He asked the name of her sept, and not being able to find it out called it Suibadiwa.
Watka. (A stone.) Members of this sept worship five stones for their gods. Some say that the first ancestors were young boys who forgot where the Deo-khulla was and therefore set up five stones and offered a chicken to them. As they did not offer the usual sacrifice of a goat, members of this sept abstain from eating goats.
Tumrecha Uika. (The tendu tree.60) It is said that the original ancestor of this sept was walking in the forest with his pregnant wife. She saw some tendu fruit and longed for it and he gave it to her to eat. Perhaps the original idea may have been that she conceived through swallowing a tendu fruit. Members of this sept eat the fruit of the tendu tree, but do not cut the tree nor make any use of its leaves or branches.
Tumdan Uika. Tumdan is a kind of pumpkin or gourd. They say that this plant grows in their Deo-khulla. The members drink water out of this gourd in the house, but do not carry it out of the house.
Kadfa-chor Uika. (Stealer of the kadfa.) Kadfa is the sheaf of grain left standing in the field for the gods when the crop is cut. The first ancestor stole the kadfa and offered it to his gods.
Gadhamār Uika. (Donkey-slayer.) Some say that the gods of the sept came to the Deo-khulla riding on donkeys, and others that the first ancestor killed a donkey in the Deo-khulla.
Eti-kumra. Eti is a goat. The ancestors of the sept used to sacrifice a Brāhman boy to their gods. Once they were caught in the act by the parents of the boy they had stolen, and they prayed to the gods to save them, and the boy was turned into a goat. They do not kill a goat nor eat its flesh, nor sacrifice it to the gods.
Ahke. This word means ‘on the other side of a river.’ They say that a man of the Dhurwa sept abducted a girl of the Uika sept from the other side of a river and founded this sept.
Tirgām. The word means fire. They say that their ancestor’s hand was burnt in the Deo-khulla while cooking the sacrifice.
Tekām. (The teak tree.) The ancestor of the sept had his gods in this tree. Members of the sept will not eat food off teak leaves, but they will use them for thatching, and also cut the tree.
Manapa. In Gondi mani is a son and apa a father. They say that their ancestors sacrificed a Brāhman father and son to their gods and were saved by their being turned into goats like the Eti-kumra sept. Members of the sept do not kill or eat a goat.
Korpachi. The droppings of a hen. The ancestors of the sept offered these to his gods.
Mandani. The female organ of generation. The ancestor of the sept slept with his wife in the Deo-khulla.
Paiyām. Paiya is a heifer which has not borne a calf, such as is offered to the gods. Other Gonds say that the people of this sept have no gods. They are said not only to marry a girl from any other subsept of the Dhurwas and Uikas, but from their own sept and even their own sisters, though this is probably no longer true. They are held to be the lowest of the Gonds. Except in this instance, as already seen, the subsepts of the Dhurwa and Uika septs do not intermarry with each other.
(c) Marriage Customs
15. Prohibitions on intermarriage, and unions of relations
A man must not marry in his own sept, nor in one which worships the same number of gods, in localities where the classification of septs according to the number of gods worshipped obtains. Intermarriage between septs which are bhaiband or brothers to each other is also prohibited. The marriage of first cousins is considered especially suitable. Formerly, perhaps, the match between a brother’s daughter and sister’s son was most common; this is held to be a survival of the matriarchate, when a man’s sister’s son was his heir. But the reason has now been generally forgotten, and the union of a brother’s son to a sister’s daughter has also become customary, while, as girls are scarce and have to be paid for, it is the boy’s father who puts forward his claim. Thus in Mandla and Bastar a man thinks he has a right to his sister’s daughter for his son on the ground that his family has given a girl to her husband’s family, and therefore they should give one back. This match is known as Dūdh lautāna or bringing back the milk; and if the sister’s daughter marries any one else her maternal uncle sometimes claims what is known as ‘milk money,’ which may be a sum of Rs. 5, in compensation for the loss of the girl as a wife for his son. This custom has perhaps developed out of the former match in changed conditions of society, when the original relation between a brother and his sister’s son has been forgotten and girls have become valuable. But it is said that the dūdh or milk money is also payable if a brother refuses to give his daughter to his sister’s son. In Mandla a man claims his sister’s daughter for his son and sometimes even the daughter of a cousin, and considers that he has a legitimate grievance if the girl is married to somebody else. Frequently, if he has reason to apprehend this, he invites the girl to his house
