Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Pāno
Pāno.— In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the Pānos are described as "a caste of weavers found in the Ganjam district. This caste is no doubt identical with the Pans, a weaving, basket-making, and servile caste of Orissa and Chota Nagpore. The Pānos occupy the same position among the Khonds of Ganjam as the Dombs hold among the inhabitants of the Vizagapatam hills, and the words Pāno and Dombo are generally regarded as synonyms [See Dōmb]. The members of the Sitra sub-division are workers in metal." It is further noted, in the Census Report, 1901, that the Pānos are "an extensive caste of hill weavers found chiefly in the Ganjam Agency. The Khond synonym for this word is Domboloko, which helps to confirm the connection between this caste and the Dombas of Vizagapatam. They speak Khond and Oriya." In a note on the Panos, I read that "their occupations are trading, weaving, and theft. They live on the ignorance and superstition of the Khonds as brokers, pedlars, sycophants, and cheats. In those parts where there are no Oriyas, they possess much influence, and are always consulted by the Khonds in questions of boundary disputes." In a brief account of the Pānos, Mr. C. F. MacCartie writes *[1] that "the Pānos, also known by the title of Dombo or Sitra in some parts, are supposed to be Paraiya [Telugu Mala] emigrants from the low country. Their profession is weaving or brass work, the monotony of which they vary by petty trading in horns, skins and live cattle, and occasionally enliven by house-breaking and theft at the expense of the Khonds, who have an incautious trick of leaving their habitations utterly unguarded when they go off to the hills to cultivate. [In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Sitras are said to be supposed to be the progeny of a Khond man and a Haddi woman, who manufacture the brass rings and bangles worn by the Khonds.] The Pānos are drunken, immoral, and dirty in their habits. The Khonds refuse to eat with them, but I do not find that this objection extends to drinking, at which both Khond and Pāno display surprising capabilities. Pānos are also the professional musicians of the country, and attend weddings, deaths and sacrifices in this character, for which they are recompensed with food, liquor, and cloths. The generality of Khond and Pāno houses are constructed of broad sâl (Shorea robusta) logs, hewn out with the axe and thatched with jungle grass, which is impervious to white-ants. In bamboo jungles, of course, bamboo is substituted for sâl. The Pānos generally affect a detached quarter, known as Dombo sai. Intermarriage between Khonds, Pānos, and Uriyas is not recognised, but cases do occur when a Pano induces a Khond woman to go off with him. She may live with him as his wife, but no ceremony takes place. [A few years ago, a young Khond was betrothed to the daughter of another Khond, and, after a few years, managed to pay up the necessary number of gifts. He then applied to the girl's father to name the day for the marriage. Before the wedding took place however, a Pāno went to the girl's father, and said that she was his daughter (she had been born before her parents were married), and that he was the man to whom the gifts should have been paid. The case was referred to a council, which decided in favour of the Pāno.] If a Pāno commits adultery with a Khond married woman, he has to pay a paronjo, or a fine of a buffalo to the husband (who retains his wife), and in addition a goat, a pig, a basket of paddy (rice), a rupee, and a load of pots. There is close communication between the Pānos and the Khonds, as the former act as the advisers of the latter in all cases of doubt or difficulty. The Uriyas live apart from both, and mix but little with either, except on the occasion of sacrifices or other solemn assemblages, when buffaloes are slaughtered for Pānos and Khonds, and goats or sheep for Uriya visitors. [It is noted, in the Ganjam Manual, in connection with Khond death ceremonies, that "if a man has been killed by a tiger, purification is made by the sacrifice of a pig, the head of which is cut off with a tangi (axe) by a Pāno, and passed between the legs of the men in the village, who stand in a line astraddle. It is a bad omen to him, if the head touches any man's legs.] Among the products of the jungles may be included myrabolams (Terminalia fruits), tasar silk cocoons, and dammer, all of which are bartered by the finders to trading Pānos in small quantities, generally for salt." In the Ganjam Māliahs, the jungles are said to be searched by Pānos for tasar cocoons, and, just across the border in Boad, the collection of these cocoons is a regular industry among them. Small portions of jungle are regularly reserved, and divided up into small allotments. Each of these is given to a Pāno for rent, and here he cultivates the silkworms, and collects the silk, which is sent to Berhampur and Sambalpur for manufacture.
The Pānos are divided into two distinct sections, viz., the Khonda Pānos who live amidst the Khonds, and the Dēsa Pānos of the plains. The former have adopted some of the customs of the Khonds, while the latter follow the customs of the Uriya castes which dwell in the lowland. The Khond Pānos are governed by the Molikos (headmen) of the Khonds. In some cases, the fines inflicted for breach of caste rules are rather severe. For example, in the neighbourhood of Baliguda, a man who is convicted of adultery has to pay two rupees, and give two buffaloes to the council which tries the case. Further south, for a similar offence twelve buffaloes are demanded, and the culprit has to pay twice the amount of the bride-price to the injured husband. The Dēsa Pānos conform to the standard Uriya type of caste council, and have a headman called Bēhara, who is assisted by a Nāyako, and caste servants entitled Bhollobaya or Gonjāri.
The marriage ceremonies of the Dēsa Pānos are closely allied to those of the Dandāsis and Haddis, whereas those of the Khonda Pānos bear a close resemblance to the ceremonies of the Khonds. Like Khond girls, unmarried Khond Pāno girls sleep in quarters (dhangadi) specially set apart for them, and, as among the Khonds, wedding presents in the form of gontis are given. It is noted with reference to the Khonds, in the Ganjam Manual, that "the bride is looked upon as a commercial speculation, and is paid for in gontis. A gonti is one of anything, such as a buffalo, a pig, or a brass pot; for instance, a hundred gontis might consist of ten bullocks, ten buffaloes, ten sacks of corn, ten sets of brass, twenty sheep, ten pigs, and thirty fowls." At a Khond Pāno marriage, the fingers of the contracting couple are linked together, and an important item of the ceremonial, which adds dignity thereto, is placing in front of the house at which a marriage is being celebrated a big brass vessel containing water, with which the guests wash their feet.
The Pānos pay reverence to ancestors, to whom, when a death occurs in a family, food is offered. In some Pāno villages, when a child is born, it is customary to consult a pūjāri (priest) as to whether the grand father or great-grandfather is re-born in it. If the answer is in the affirmative, pigs are sacrificed to the ancestors. Some Pānos have adopted the worship of Tākurānis (village deities), to whom rice and turmeric are offered by placing them before the image in the form of a figure-of-eight. A fowl is sacrificed, and its blood allowed to flow on to one loop of the figure. In some places, Dharmadēvata and Gagnasuni are worshipped, a castrated goat being sacrificed annually to the former, and fowls and an entire goat to the latter.
Pāno women, who live among the Khonds, tattoo their faces in like manner, and in other respects resemble Khond women.
I am informed that, on more than one occasion, Pānos have been known to rifle the grave of a European, in the belief that buried treasure will be found.
- ↑ * Madras Census Report, 1881.