Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Donga Dāsari
Donga Dāsari. — Dāsari (servant of the god), Mr. Francis writes,[1] " in the strict sense of the word, is a religious mendicant of the Vaishnavite sect, who has formally devoted himself to an existence as such, and been formally included in the mendicant brotherhood by being- branded on the shoulders with Vaishnavite symbols." Far different are the Donga, or thief Dāsaris, who receive their name from the fact that "the men and women disguise themselves as Dāsaris, with perpendicular Vaishnava marks on their foreheads, and, carrying a lamp (Garuda kambum), a gong of bell-metal, a small drum called jagata, and a tuft of peacock feathers, go begging in the villages, and are at times treated with the sumptuous meals, including cakes offered to them as the disciples of Venkatēsvarlu.[2]"
In an interesting article on the Donga Dāsaris, Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri writes as follows.[3] "Quite opposed to the gudi (temple) Dāsaris are Donga Dāsaris. They are the most dreaded of the criminal classes in the Bellary district. In the early years of their settlement in Bellary, these Donga Dāsaris were said to have practiced kidnapping boys and girls of other castes to strengthen their number, and even now, as the practice stands, any person can become a Donga Dāsari though very few would like to become one. But, for all that, the chief castes who furnished members to this brother hood of robbery were the scum of the Lingayats and the Kabbēras. Of course, none of the respectable members of these castes would join them, and only those who were excommunicated found a ready home among these Donga Dāsaris. Sometimes Muhammadan budmāshes (bad-māsh, evil means of livelihood) and the worst characters from other castes, also become Donga Dāsaris. The way an alien is made a Donga Dāsari is as follows. The regular Donga Dāsaris take the party who wants to enter their brotherhood to the side of a river, make him bathe in oil, give him a new cloth, hold a council, and give a feast. They burn a twig of the sami (Prosopis spicigera) or margosa (Melia Azadirachta) tree, and slightly burn the tongue of the party who has joined them. This is the way of purification and acceptance of every new member, who, soon after the tongue-burning ceremony, is given a seat in the general company, and made to partake of the common feast. The Donga Dāsaris talk both Telugu and Kanarese. They have only two bedagas or family names, called Sunna Akki (thin rice) and Ghantelavāru (men of the bell). As the latter is a family name of the Kabbēras, it is an evidence that members of the latter community have joined the Donga Dāsaris. Even now Donga Dāsaris intermarry with Kabbēras, i.e., they accept any girl from a Kabbēra family in marriage to one of their sons, but do not give one of their daughters in marriage to a Kabbēra boy. Hanumān is their chief god. Venkatēsa, an incarnation of Vishnu, is also worshipped by many. But, in every one of their villages, they have a temple dedicated to their village goddess Huligavva or Ellamma, and it is only before these goddesses that they sacrifice sheep or fowls. Vows are undertaken for these village goddesses when children fall ill. In addition to this, these Donga Dāsaris are notorious for taking vows before starting on a thieving expedition, and the way these ceremonies are gone through is as follows. The gang, before starting on a thieving expedition, proceed to a jungle near their village in the early part of the night, worship their favourite goddesses Huligavva or Ellamma, and sacrifice a sheep or fowl before her. They place one of their turbans on the head of the sheep or fowl that was sacrificed, as soon as the head falls on the ground. If the turban turns to the right, it is considered a good sign, the goddess having permitted them to proceed on the expedition; if to the left, they return home that night. Hanumān is also consulted in such expeditions, and the way in which it is done is as follows. They go to a Hanumān temple which is near their village, and, after worshipping him, garland him with a wreath of flowers. The garland hangs on both sides of the neck. If any flowers on the right side drop down first, it is considered as a permission granted by the god to start on plundering expeditions, and, conversely, these expeditions are never undertaken if any flowers happen to drop from the left side first. The Donga Dāsaris start on their thieving raids with their whole family, wife and children following. They are the great experts in house-breaking and theft, and children are taught thieving by their mothers when they are five or six years old. The mother takes her boy or girl to the nearest market, and shows the child some cloth or vessel, and asks it to bring it away. When it fails, it is thrashed, and, when stroke upon stroke falls upon its back, the only reply it is- taught to give is that it knows nothing. This is considered to be the reply which the child, when it grows up to be a man or woman, has to give to the police authorities when it is caught in some crime and thrashed by them to confess. Whenever the Donga Dāsaris are caught by the police, they give false names and false castes. They have a cipher language among themselves. The Donga Dāsari woman is very loose, but, if she go astray with a Brāhman, Lingayat, Kabbēra, Kuruba, Upparava, or Rājput, her tongue is burnt, and she is taken back into the community. Widow remarriage freely prevails. They avoid eating beef and pork, but have no objection to other kinds of flesh."