THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OP THE URAONS. 159 



on the third son became the mahto, These three families increased and formed three 

 dfferent groups called by them khunts, viz , the munda khunt, the pahan khunt, and the 

 mahto khunt ; and, up to this date, in villages where the Uraons were the first settlers, these 

 three khunts exist. As the)' are all the decendants of the same man, i.e., the first settler, 

 all the members of these three khunts, in the same village, have the same gotra or family 

 name, 



As there was no raja to interfere with them, they became possessors of their lands 

 as primi occupantes, and they retain their lands rent free up till now under the name of 

 bhuimar. According to their hereditary system the munda, or first son, got more land 

 than the pahan or second son, and the pahan more than the mahto or third son, so that 

 more bhuimari land belongs to the munda khunt than to the pahan khunt, and to the 

 pahan khunt more than to the mahto khunt. 



The munda became the chief of the village as being the possessor of the most lands. 

 The pahan, besides his share by inheritance in the bhuimari lands, got from the 

 community about eight bighas of land which they call pahanai. This he cultivates to 

 defray the expenses connected with the different pujas. Later on he took two assistants, 

 namely, the pit jar and the panbhara, and out of his pahanai he gave two bighas to the 

 pujar and one bigha to the panbhara. This is called dakkatari. The mahto, whose office 

 was at first, as it were that of the policeman of the village, got also a special land from the 

 community called mahto i khet. When the rajas began to take possession of the country, 

 they left the first settlers, namely, the three khunts, in possession of their respective lands, 

 whilst all the new settlers had to pay rents, and the mahto became the collector of rents in 

 the raja's name. He remained also, as it were, the burgomaster of the village, and all 

 the orders emanating from the raja and, later on, from Government were given to the 

 raiyats through him. This state of things lasted for some time, until the raja began to 

 distribute villages to his servants who thus became landholders. They collected the rents, 

 but the mahto retained his position in the eyes of the people and the Police. Now this 

 khunt system exists only in villages where the Oraons were the first settlers. In other 

 parts of the country, where they settled after the country had been taken possession of by 

 the rajas, the khunt system does not exist, and there are no more any bhuimari or rent- 

 free lands. 



In some villages, where Mundaris and Uraons have settled from time immemorial, the 

 munda and pahan are invariably Mundaris whilst the mahto is an Uraon. In more recent 

 villages there is no mimda ; there is, however, always a pahan who cultivates rent free his 

 pahanai, or about seven or eight bighas of land ; and the mahto is only, as it were, the 

 servant of the zemindar, who for his service gets from him a piece of land rent free. 



There is also the bhut kheta, which is generally cultivated by the pahan khunt people. 

 The condition of the tenure is that they have to supply big animals like bullocks and 

 buffaloes for the sacrifices. This is called bhut kheta, because these fields are supposed to 

 be haunted by bhuis and the produce must be used in feeding them. 



E?idoga?ny. — The Uraons are a purely and absolutely endogamous tribe. On no 

 account can they intermarry with any other tribe or caste. Anyone marrying out of the 

 tribe would be at once ejected from it, and could not be readmitted before leaving his 



