350 T. H. Hendley — An Account of the Maiwdr Bhils. [No. 4, 



One near Khairwara is noted for his possession of the virtue of perpetual 

 chastity, which he preserves under constant temptation ! 



Sacrifices. — Long hefore the British power was felt in Maiwar, the 

 Bhils sacrificed human heings. I have not been able to discover whether 

 the victims were captives, or trained for the purpose, as amongst the Khonds, 

 but am informed that the priests encouraged the people, and gave them 

 every opportunity of seeing the sacrifice. Goats are now offered to Mata or 

 Devi, and the oblation is devoured by the worshipper. The tradition of 

 human sacrifice exists amongst the Minas ; a goat is still offered daily at 

 the shrine of Ambadevi, at Amber, the ancient capital of Dhundar, or Jaipur, 

 as a substitute for the human victim formerly stated to have been sacri- 

 ficed at the same place. 



At installations at Jodhpur, buffaloes and goats are sacrificed in front 

 of the four-armed Devi and thrown down the rock face of the fort, so again 

 at the very ancient temple of Devi on the Chitor Hill. These are probably 

 relics of aboriginal worship, rather than imitations of the offerings to 

 Kali or Durga, for they have existed from time immemorial, against the 

 general feeling of the Bajput who is more a Vaishnavi than a Shivait, 

 although there are not wanting indications that the last named sect are 

 attaining the pre-eminence. The Sirohi Minas are much addicted to sacri- 

 fice ; the Bhil delights in blood, and no one enjoys the Dasahra slaughter 

 more than he, although his greed for the flesh is no doubt a great induce- 

 ment to slaying the animal. 



Priests. — These are termed " Waties" or " Jogis", and belong to the 

 Jogi caste, with whom the Bhils eat and drink. Brahmans and Bairagis 

 are revered, but as a Eao of Banswara once said, " They beat them too". A 

 case in point was noted at Khairwara ; a fakir near that station was attacked 

 by Bhils, his tongue torn out and face mutilated, merely because he concealed 

 a rupee in his mouth, and the thieves were determined to have it, and disliked 

 his hypocrisy. 



Ideas of Heaven. — The Bhil has a very dim idea of a future state. He 

 believes the soul goes before his gods, and that the spirits of the dead haunt 

 places they lived in during life. He also holds that there is a limited transmi- 

 gration of souls, especially in spirits becoming evil ones. Eclipses and the 

 motions of the heavenly bodies are deemed to be the play of their gods, and 

 they howl with the Hindu when the moon is eclipsed. Unlike the Khonds and 

 other wild races, they do not consider that a man-eating tiger has within him 

 the spirit of a victim, who assists him in his raids ; this superstition I found 

 common on the slopes of Mount A'bu amongst the Hindu religious men, 

 especially at the shrine of the Muni Vasishtha, the reputed originator of the 

 hill. I was told by one of the Brahmans that the soul of a departed bro- 

 ther had entered the body of a tiger, but up to the time of my visit had 



