The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India,...

Lonchatia.—(Salt-licker.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds. The members of this sept lick salt on the death of their relatives. Another account from Betūl says that they spread salt on a platform raised in honour of the dead and make cattle lick it up.

Londhāri.—A small caste of cultivators found in the Bhandāra District. They appear to be immigrants from northern India, as their women wear the Hindustāni dress and they speak Hindi at home. At their weddings the bridal couple walk round the sacred post according to the northern custom. When a widow marries again the couple worship a sword before the ceremony. If a man is convicted of an intrigue with a low-caste woman, he has to submit to a symbolical purification by fire. A heap of juāri-stalks is piled all round him and set alight, but as soon as the fire begins to burn he is permitted to escape from it. This rite is known as Agnikasht. The Londhāris appear to be distinct from the Lonhāre Kunbis of Betūl, with whom I was formerly inclined to connect them. These latter derive their name from the Lonār Mehkar salt lake in the Buldāna District, and are probably so called because they once collected the salt evaporated from the lake. They thus belong to the Marātha country, whereas the Londhāris probably came from northern India. The name Lonhāre is also found as a subdivision of one or two other castes living in the neighbourhood of the Lonār Mehkar lake.

Mādgi, Mādiga.56—The Telugu caste of workers in leather corresponding to the Chamārs, which numbers nearly 1½ millions in Madras, Mysore and Hyderābād. In 1911 there were nearly 6000 Mādgis in the Central Provinces and 3000 in Berār. According to tradition, the Mādigas derive their name from that of a sage called Mātanga Muni, and it is said that a dynasty belonging to the caste once ruled in the Canarese country. The following legend of their origin comes from Mysore:57 In former times the sage Jāmbava Rishi was habitually late in attending at Siva’s court. Siva asked him why this happened, and he replied that he was occupied in tending his children. On this Siva took pity on him and gave him the sacred cow, Kāmdhenu, from which all the needs of the children could be satisfied. But one day while Jāmbava was absent at Siva’s court, another sage, Sānkhya, visited his hermitage and was hospitably entertained by his son, Yugamuni. The cream which Sānkhya was given was so good that he desired to kill the cow, Kāmdhenu, thinking that her flesh would taste even better. In spite of Yugamuni’s objections Sānkhya killed the cow and distributed the meat to various persons. While this was in progress Jāmbava returned, and, on hearing what had been done, dragged Sānkhya and Yugamuni before Siva’s judgment seat. The two offenders did not enter the court but stood outside the doorway, Sānkhya on the right side and Yugamuni on the left.

Siva condemned them to become Chandālas or outcastes, and the descendants of Sānkhya have become the right-hand Holias, while those of Yugamuni and his wife Mātangi are the left-hand caste of Mādigas. The latter were set to make shoes to expiate the sin committed by their ancestor in killing a cow. Another story given in the Central Provinces is that the Golla caste of cowherds, corresponding to the Ahīrs and the Mādgis, are the descendants of two brothers. The brothers had a large herd of cattle and wanted to divide them. At this time, however, cattle disease was prevalent, and many of the herd were affected. The younger brother did not know of this, and seeing that most of the herd were lying on the ground, he proposed to the elder brother that he himself should take all the cattle lying on the ground, and the elder brother all those which were standing up, as a suitable method of division. The elder brother agreed, but when the younger came to take his cattle which were on the ground he found that they were all dead, and hence he had no alternative but to take off the hides and cure and sell them. His descendants continued his degraded profession and became the Mādgi caste. In Chānda the following six subcastes of Mādgis are reported: The Nulka Chandriah or caste priests; the Anapa or leather dealers; the Sindhi who are supposed to have been performers of dramas; the Masti or dancers; the Kommu or tellers of stories; and the Dekkala or genealogists of the caste. It is said that Kommu really means a horn and Dekka a hoof.

These last two are the lowest subdivisions, and occupy a most degraded position. In theory they should not sleep on cots, pluck the leaves of trees, carry loads on any animal other than a donkey, or even cook food for themselves, but should obtain their subsistence by eating the leavings of other Mādgis or members of different castes. The Nulka Chandriah or priests are the highest subdivision and will not take food or water from any of the others, while the four remaining subcastes eat and drink together, but do not intermarry. There are also a number of exogamous groups, most of which have territorial names; but a few are titular or totemistic, as—Mukkidi, noseless; Kumawār, a potter; Nagarwār, a citizen; Dobbulwār, one who possesses a dobbulu or copper coin; Ippawār, from the mahua tree; Itkalwār from itkal a brick, and so on. The caste customs of the Mādigas need not be recorded in detail. They are an impure caste and eat all kinds of food, and the leavings of others, though the higher subdivisions refuse to accept these. They live outside the village, and their touch is considered to convey pollution.