(For private circulation through Newsletter of Mathur Association Bombay)
(Not to be reproduced, wholly or partly without the author’s specific permission)
Will a Mathur today believe that a “Mathur Community Committee” ( a sort of Mathur Association) was in existence and functioning more than 140 years ago in a town in India.
There may have been some others too, but this one which I know of (with documented record still available), was at Aligarh in U.P., set up in the year 1865, a full 20 years before even the Indian National Congress was born. Poverty and unemployment were rampant then and people (including a large number of Mathurs) were unable to fulfill even the most essential social obligation of a child’s marriage as the traditional marriage ceremonies needed a lot of money. The main agenda of the said Committee therefore, was alleviation of the sufferings of the impoverished amongst Mathurs, badly needing help in the performance of marriage of their children.
In order that a reader appreciates the circumstances leading to the formation of the Committee, first a background, poignant as it is, of the then prevailing conditions (some learnt from our old Biradri Buzurgs of yesteryears, and some others recorded in the delebrations of the Committee’s meeting) is given in para 1 below:
In an article, “Great Mathur Migrations (MAB Newsletter of Jan-2004, available on MAB website http://www.geocities.com/bombaymathurs ) it was stated that the Mathur star shone the brightest during the Mughal period (1526-1857) in India. However, as the Mughal empire started crumbling the bright star also started loosing its shine. Well before its final end in the year 1857 the empire had greatly shriveled, with a nominal control limited only to areas around Delhi and some part of west U.P. An Urdu poet had aptly described the then situation as “Hukumat-e-Shah Aalam, Dilli taa Palam”
The period of a couple of decades before and after the crucial year 1857 (end of Mughul rule & beginning of British Raj) is said to be one of grave, general economic crisis as Mughals had gone and British were still in process of settling down. It was worse particularly for the service class Mathurs, many of whom had not received their salary for years from the bankrupted Mughal treasury. Large scale abolition of posts and fanatically motivated retrenchments were the order of the day. Self employed lawyers, Mukhtyars, Katibs (writers) etc., had no job as many Courts in major cities were disband. Zamindaris and Jagirs bestowed upon many were revoked and hereditary Wazifas (recurring grants) and pensions to many were suddenly cancelled or put on indefinite hold, some by the outgoing Mughals themselves and some subsequently by the British. Incidentally, Mirza Ghalib, the celebrated Urdu poet was also deprived of his Mughal pension and passed his last days at Delhi in extreme poverty. This situation, though overall, was worst in the greatly shriveled Mughal controlled area mentioned above which later fell direct from Mughals to British, as distinguished from the princely states and other areas which had already come under British sovereignty. It may perhaps not have been that worse in far-flung regions of Eastern U.P, Bihar, Bengal, Hyderabad etc, which by then had already become virtually independent of the Mughals under the local Governors.
Talking of Mathurs in the aforesaid ‘shriveled’ area and in the climate prevailing as above, a large number were left with practically no source of income. Some fell back on income from the still held Zamindari or on rent from inherited holdings like lands in villages and houses or shops in cities.
With expansion of families and division of such properties to smaller and smaller units, the net per family income from these sources had already shrunk to ever smaller values. Cash savings, if one had any, got evaporated. in due course. Next came gradual sale or mortgaging (never able to retrieve back) of properties if any, sale or pawning of family heirlooms, jewelry, etc., and even of the surplus household utensils in some extreme cases. Many migrated to other places in search of jobs or to stay with relatives elsewhere.
Last resort for some was to take household necessities on credit from known shopkeepers or seeking Qarz (loan) from money lenders, wishfully hoping to repay on return of better days when, by some miracle, the unpaid salaries or withheld pensions may be released, or new employment opportunities come up. Nothing of the sort ever happened. Some Mathur Havelis were put on forced auction, rendering the owners homeless. To save themselves from the humiliation of being dragged to Court, some sold off their properties on their own at throw away prices to clear the debts. In many cases loans are said to have been cleared by second or third generation descendents, the original borrower having died without being able to repay in his lifetime. In some cases occasional help came from extended family members who helped only as long as they could. In some other instances, it is heard, where a Mathur family had generations-long patronage and good relations with some Mohalle-wale shopkeepers and milkmen, the later were good enough to continue at a limited scale their services and supplies free of cost, just out of past respect and for old times sake.
Under the saga described above, it can well be imagined that for a Mathur with hardly any means in hose days, providing marriage expenses would have been like walking through fire. Many girls in such families were growing above the marriageable age (then around 11 years) with embarrassed parents unable to raise funds for the marriage or find matching grooms. Though a good “Khandaan” (family) was an important asset and criterion for seeking alliance, money was needed even by a Khandani. Marriage standards, albeit without any norms, had got set earlier in good, prosperous times. For those who could still afford, the standards were higher or highest - no low or lower. “Lakh jaay, per saakh na jaay”, was their idea of showmanship. Others too strove to perform at their very best, never minding going much out of the way just for Khandani Izzat (family’s prestige) even by selling off properties, if required. For them, one daughter married off often meant one Zamindari village or another property gone. And large broods in a family with many girls lined up for marriage were nothing uncommon in those days. Many not-so-well off families, despite their once lofty, Khandani heritage, started being marginalized in the Biradri, subjecting them to unbearable feelings of inferiority complex..
Though there was no Dowry system amongst Mathurs then (and thankfully is still not there, which many other communities concede enviously even today), yet in real trouble were the less fortunate ones who had hardly any means to perform even a simple marriage. It is creditable, so it is heard, that no Mathur was known to have ever begged or cried in public or resorted to any unfair or unlawful means or compromised his self-esteem even under trying situations. It has been an age-old belief that a Mathur, howsoever poor, inherits by birth a high sense of self-respect and dignity, which he traditionally likes to maintain at all cost, and under all circumstances. Our old Biradri Buzurgs of yesteryears used to say:
“Museebat mei(n) bhi Mathuro(n) ki sharafat kam nahi(n) hoti karo soney ke sau tukde, magar qeemat kam nahi(n) hoti”
From the situation around the year 1857 described above at length, let us come to the year 1865 AD. During all these years some Mathur minds were working hard to find a solution by which common Mathurs could at least perform their children’s marriages in a simple way yet with due dignity. For this, three conditions were considered absolutely necessary. First, socially all Biradri members, irrespective of financial or social status, be considered as equal. Second, any solutions found should be fully acceptable to and binding on all, rich or poor, big or small in the entire Biradri of the region. Third, if funds can not be produced, marriage expenses must be cut down by canceling unnecessary ceremonies and reducing expenses on the necessary ones to the minimum.
Informal, serious group discussions on these lines by Mathur elders developed into formation of a “Mathur Community Committee” at Aligarh in the year 1865, headed by one Babu Har Gobind Sahai Sahib (1839-91), a respected Biradri Rais & Vakil of the town. In those days the British in power were highly suspicious of launch of any Committee or similar movement by Indians (lest its hidden agenda may be against British interest) which were not allowed without their prior scrutiny and permission by specific orders. The Committee therefore explained its aims and objectives (e.g., totally non-political, only for social reforms within their own community without interfering with other ones, etc.) to the District Collector at Aligarh and the Divisional Commissioner at Agra.
After convincing them and obtaining their permission (referred to as ‘orders’), the Committee had its first public (Mathur) meeting at Aligarh on the 7th September, 1865 in which carefully drafted regulations, deletions and amendments to the then existing marriage ceremonies, fixing limits on expenses etc., were read out and unanimously agreed upon. Copies of these agreed drafts were sent to Biradri members in 17 districts of Agra, Bareilly and Meerut Divisions (which then contained sizable Mathur population in the region) for their opinion and comments. There must have been long series of criss-cross discussions, agreements / disagreements, deliberations and hiccups in number of meetings at all these places to build up a final, popular opinion on all items of the crucial draft. It was, thus only in the final joint meeting held at Aligarh on 2nd December, 1881 ( i.e., full 16 years after initiation of the debate) that the regulations were finalized, including the opinions / comments received from the Biradri members of the other cities and unanimously adopted to be binding on all community members in the region.
These were published in the form of a 48-pages booklet entitled “ZAWABAT – e - SHADI (Regulations for marriage) in highly Persianized Urdu, the language prevalent amongst Mathurs of those days It contained the names (with parentage and A’ll ) of about 150 participants from places far and wide, (besides Aligarh) , like Agra, Amroha, Bareilly, Bayana, Farrukhabad, Moradabad, Narnaul, Pilakhna, Rohtak, Saharanpur, Sherkot and, one each from Delhi and Ferozpore..
It was a full compendium for Mathur marriages with detailed explanations for the deletions, amendments considered necessary in ceremonies. Most important, it fixed four Categories of Mathur marriages, specifying very precise limits of amount (some in mere paisas) of expenses on the smallest of the various essential ceremonies in each of the four Categories.
It thus brought great and much needed relief to the Biradri as a whole; as by following it an ordinary Mathur could easily perform marriages most economically within his means, with due grace and honor, and most important, without the embarrassment of being looked down upon by others in the Biradri.
Till as late as the 1940’s its provisions were followed as good practice and general guidance (though expense limitations had become a thing of the past) in most Mathur marriages in U.P
The book contains directive for formation of Welfare Trusts in various cities to provide and ensure financial help for marriage to the really needy Mathur, briefly described in essence as follows:
1. In every Mathur marriage a donation of Rs.25 in Catagory-1 and Rs.10 in Catagory-2 marriages be taken from the groom’s side to build up the Trust capital. Well-off persons with better means may donate more as per their capacity which will be appreciated as a gesture of benevolence.
2. The Trust be managed by a Committee of five local respected, well-known and mature Biradri members of integrity, selected as per popular opinion.
3. An amount of upto Rs.25 be given as an interest free loan to a Mathur in need if he performs marriage of Category 3 or 4 and as per the prescribed regulations.
Note Nothing is mentioned about the method of recovery of loans. Also, there is no subsequent record about how the Trusts at various places worked. The author, however, had learnt from his grandfather (1870-1951) that the Trusts at Agra and Aligarh were effectively working till around the early 1900’s before they got wound up, probably as conditions by then had improved and people were no more in desperate need of financial help in performance of marriages.
The main purpose of this article is to point to the significant and noteworthy feature of the book that brightly reflects the glorious Mathur culture and tradition of equanimity, equality, unity, brotherhood, adaptation and most important, the spirit of serious, fatherly and sympathetic concern of the elder for the younger and of the rich for the poor in the community - 140 years ago.
The author has a printed copy (now browned and frail) of the original edition of the booklet issued in the year 1881. It makes an interesting reading even today not only as it gives a deep insight of a phase of unbelievably pathetic conditions of the Mathur community at that point of time, but also as some of its contents are valid and thought provoking even in the present times.
It may be mentioned in passing that the 1865 born “Mathur Community Committee” at Aligarh remained functional till quite late to oversee and guide the implementation of its regulations in Mathur marriages. With passage of time and gradual betterment of conditions the stringency of the regulations gradually decreased in actual practice. It is not known when the Committee ceased to exist formally. However, it took a rebirth in the year 1938 in the form of “Mathur Association Aligarh”, later a body registered as “Mathur Sahayak Society”, an active Mathur organization at Aligarh today.
This article will be incomplete without the mention of a meeting of the above mentioned Mathur Sahayak Society of Aligarh held on 23rd June, 1963 which cites a reference to the 1865 meeting aforesaid and stipulates further reforms for Mathur marriages, specially about the deplorable way of “girl-seeing” amongst Mathurs. It also evolved and prescribed a simplified form of “Saya-Sagai” paper in Hindi,
a) Some salient points from the recorded minutes of the aforesaid 1865 meeting (briefly translated in essence in English) and of the 1963 meeting are described in an attachment to this article. Today they may appear a bit strange (even amusing to some) but it should be noted that they were carefully and painstakingly evolved by our ever thoughtful Biradri buzurgs as per the situation and need of the respective times. Many of these points can be seen as valid, in principle, even today.
Note: Italicized additions are by the author just by way of clarification /added explanation.
b) facsimile photocopies of the first page of the 1865 meeting booklet in Urdu (with English translation by the author), cover page and the first two pages, in Hindi, of the 1963 meeting alongwith copy of the simplified Saya-Sagai format, in Hindi, as mentioned above, are attachments to this article, .for reader’s interest and use, if needed.
Much water has flown in the holy Ganges since 1865, and by grace of God, most Mathurs today are back in a position to perform glittering, (even “Mega” and “Farm House” in some cases) marriages, with many ceremonies, once willingly deleted, now happily restored - all well within their own means.
Let the bright Mathur star of the 16th & 17th Centuries A.D., shine again in the 21st Century with its glorious, traditional culture o f sharafat and Mathuryet.
Krishna Murari
Panvel (New Mumbai) Ph: (022) 2746 8573
24-11-2006 em: murarikm@hotmail.com
Attachment to article “A MATHUR WELFARE TRUST & REFORMS – 1865
Translated gist of a few points from the 1885 Mathur Committee meeting regulations
1. The main aim of these regulations is the betterment of our Community. The intention of fixing the four Categories of marriage (without meaning to create any degrading classifications in the Biradri) is that nobody may have to go in for expenses beyond the prescribed limits, and that the intended category is mutually decided beforehand to avoid undue expectations by either side.
2. The present times are extremely hard. Expenses on marriage ceremonies are coming upto three or four hundred rupees nowadays. It is, therefore necessary to limit the number of Baratis, cancel ceremonies considered unnecessary, and reduce expenses on the others, limited to the amounts given below for each of the four Categories.
Marriage categories and approved expenses on ceremonies (in Rupees)
| Sr. | Marriage Category | Boy | Girl | Baratis (max.no.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | First | 300 | 500 | 100 |
| 2. | Second | 200 | 250 | 50 |
| 3. | Third | 100 | 125 | 25 |
| 4. | Fourth | 50 | 75 | 15 |
Barat shall stay for a maximum of four days
Note: The above amounts are exclusive of Barat expenses, food, and bride’s trousseau.
3. Presently 25 sets of Teeyals & Bagheys are given. This is now reduced to 15 for Cat.1, 9 for Cat.2 and 5 for Cat. 3 & 4 marriages.
4. Many alliances are fixed on the basis of hearsay information only which are not honored .later.. After tallying of horoscopes, independent enquiries must be made by both parties to full satisfaction and consent of concerned family members, before finally fixing the alliance.
5. Once an alliance is fixed, it should not be broken, except only for the following reasons, if came to be known after alliance fixation:
a) if the boy or the girl is suffering from some serious / contagious disease
b) if the boy is illiterate, uncultured or of bad character, likely to bring disrepute to the family.
6. Always bear in mind that : “ Honor and self respect of either side is equal”. Boy’s side should not have a demanding attitude nor show over enthusiasm (expectations) in dealing with the girl’s side.
7. Feast for ladies should be held in daytime so that they are back to their homes before evening. 8.General Feast for men may be held at night but without liquor or meat as it usually has guests from vegetarian communities also. Liquor and meat can be served the next day in the exclusive feast, even if vegetarian guests are present.
9. Marriage expenses to be well within your means to save you from future misery. Undue show work may render you liable for scrutiny of your resources by the authorities and you may be suspected for illegally begotten wealth, bribe, etc., as happened recently in a case in Delhi.
Translated gist of a few points from the minutes of the 1963 meeting:
1. Of late a very disturbing trend about ‘girl-seeing’ has come up in the Biradri. The boy’s side now insists upon the girls - not one, but many one after the other - to be ‘shown’ at fixed places (expensive restaurants, to a multi-member party from the boy’s side) and then reject the proposal on some pretext or the other. The Committee strongly feels that this gives unnecessary stress and tension to the girl and her family and often results in defamation of the girl’s side. It urges that this practice be stopped and that the boy’s side should ask to see the girl only after all enquiries have been made (to due acceptance level)..
(The context was that earlier the girls used to be ‘seen’ at a temple, a mutual relative / friend’s house or in a market place etc., simply, without much fanfare and without subjecting the girl’s side to huge expenses just in ‘showing’ the girl).
2. If ladies accompany an outstation Barat, prior intimation should be given to the girl’s side and due arrangements for their accommodation ensured beforehand.
3.A simplified format in Hindi is prescribed for the Saya – Sagai paper which goes before marriage from the bride’s side to the groom’s side after receipt of the groom’s side “Fehrist” (list of names)
Please see the facsimiles of pages from the two meetings below