1 180 PANJAB CASTES.
2 " Bakhtawar Singh nnd Banni Singh (during the Srst-haK of this century), T<ho broke up the
3 "large tui'hnlent villages into a nnnilier of ^iinall hamlets, tliey have become generally well
4 " behaved ; hut they return to their former habits when opportunity occurs.
5 " In 1857 ttey assembled, burnt state ricks, carried off cattle, &c., but did not succeed in
6 " plundering any town or village in Ulwav. In British territory they plundered Firozpur and
7 " other villages, and when a British force came to restore order many were hanged.
8 " Tliough Meos claim to be of Rajput origin, there are grounds for believing that many spring
9 " ffom the same stock as the Mi'nas. The similarity between tlie words Meo and Miua suggest
10 "that the former may be a contraction of the latter. Several of the respective clans are identical
11 "in name (Singal, Nai, Bulot, Pundlot, Dingal, Balott ; aud a story lold of one Daria Meo, and his
12 "ladylove Sisbadani Mini seems to show that they formerly intermarried. In Bulandshahr a ca^te
13 " called Meo Minas is spoken of in the Settlement Report, which would seem farther tj connect the
14 " two. However, it is probable enougli that apostate Rajputs and bastard sons of Rajputs founded
15 " many of the clans, as the legends tell.
16 " The Meos are now all Mnsalmans in name ; but tl eir village deities are ( he same as those of
17 "Hindu zamindars. They keep too several Hindu festivals. Thus the Hcli ii3 with Jleos a season
18 " of rough play, and is considere 1 as important a festival aa the Moharram, Id, and Shahrat ; and
19 " they likewise obseive the Janamashtami, Dusehra and Piwali. They often keep Brahmin prie ts
20 " to write the pi7t cirV/A;, or note fixing the date of a marriage. They call themselves by Hindu
21 " names, with the exception of ' R.im ;' and ' Singh ' is a Irequent affix though not as common as
22 " ' Khan.'
23 " On the Amawas, or monthly conjunction of the sun and moon, Jleos, in common with Hindu
24 " Ahirs, Gnjars, &c., cea=e from labour ; and when they make a well the fir>t proceeding is to
25 " erect a ' Chabutra ' to ' Bainiji' or ' Haniiman. ' However, when plunder was to be obtained,
26 " they have often shown little respect for Hindu shrines and temples ; and when the sanctity of a
27 " threatened place has been urged, the retort has been ' Turn to t)eo. Mam Meo !' You may he a
28 " Deo (God\ hut I am a Meo !
29 " As regards their own religion Meos are very ignorant. Few know the Tcalima, and feiver
30 " still the regular prayers, the seasons of which they entirely neglect. This, however, only applies
31 " to Ulwar territory ; in British, the effect of the schools is to make them more observant of religious
32 " duties. Indeed, in Ulwar, at certain places where there are mosques, religious observances
33 " are better maintained, and some know the Tcalima, say their prayers, and would like a school.
34 " Meos do not marry in their Pal or clan, but they are lax about forming connections with
35 " women of other castes, whose children they receive into the Meo community. As already stated
36 " Brahmins take part in the formalities preceding a marriage, bnt the ceremony itself is performed
37 " by the Kazi.
38 " As agriculturists, Meos are inferior to their Hindu neighbours. The point in which they
39 " chietiy fail is working their wells, for which they lack patience. Their women, whom they do
40 " not confine, will, it is said, do more tield work than the men ; indeed one often finds women at work
41 " in the crops when the men are lying down. Like the women of low Hindu castes they tattoo
42 " their bodies, a practice disapproved by Musalmans in general. Meos are generall.y poor and live
43 " badly ; they have no scruples about getting drunk when opportunity offers. The men wear the
44 " dhoti and Vumri, and not paTijamiis. Their dress is, in fact. Hindu. The men often wear
45 " gold ornaments, but I believe the women are seldom or never allowed to have tbem. "
46 To this Mr. Charming adds : —
47 " My own enquiries on the subject were imperfect when they were interrupted by my transfer
48 " from Gurgaon ; but they led me to a conclusion which I find has also been adopted by Major
49 " Powlett, that the Miiias and Meos are connected, and I should be inclined to add that both are
50 " probably representatives of the earlier non-.iryan inhabitants of the country. In Tod's
51 " Rajasthan, A'ol. II, page 76, I find it stated that Mewas o is a name given to the fastnesses in
52 " the Aravalli hills, to whif-h Min.a8, Kolis and others make their retreat. Pal is, on the same
53 " authority, the term for a community of any of the aboriginal mountain races ; its import is a
54 " detile or valley, fitted for cultivation and defence ; and Pal is the term given to the main Sub-
55 " Divisions of the Meos and also of the Minas, These latter, who in Gurgaon are known only as a
56 " body of professional criminals, were the original masters of the State of Amber or Jaipur,
57 " the Rajput kingdom of which was foimded by Dhole Rae about A.D. 967 after subduing the Minas.
58 " Tod also states that in Jaipur the Minas are still the most numerous tribe, and possess large
59 " immunities and privileges ; formerly the ti'ka of sovereignty was marked by blood taken from
60 " the great toe of a Mina of Kalikho, another token, as I intepret it, of the ancient sovereignty of
61 " the tribe. Meos are often mentioned, although not in Gurgaon, as Mina Meos : and in the
62 " older Muhammadan historians and in Tod, I find expeditions against their country spoken of as
63 " expeditions against the Mawsisat, and in later time as against the Mawas. These facts incline
64 " me to the belief that the Meos are such of the aborginal Mina population of the Aravalli bills as
65 " were converted to Muhammadanism, and that their name is probably a corruption of Mewasati
66 " or the men of the mountain passes. Perhaps other enquiries may he able to confirm or refute this
67 " theory^ which I only put forward tentatively.