Research source

In Gujarât, among the wilder tribes, the belief prevails that cholera is caused by old women who feed on the…

Date of account: Second edition published 1896
Source: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Reference: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 1 (of 2) · selected passage 51
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

In Gujarât, among the wilder tribes, the belief prevails that cholera is caused by old women who feed on the corpses of the victims of the pestilence

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

In Gujarât, among the wilder tribes, the belief prevails that cholera is caused by old women who feed on the corpses of the victims of the pestilence. Formerly, when a case occurred their practice was to go to the soothsayer (Bhagat), find out from him who was the guilty witch, and kill her with much torture. Of late years this practice has, to a great extent, ceased. The people now attribute an outbreak to the wrath of the goddess Kâlî, and, to please her, draw her cart through the streets, and lifting it over the village boundaries, offer up goats and buffaloes. Sometimes, to keep off the disease, they make a magic circle with milk or coloured threads round the village. At Nâsik, when cholera breaks out in the city, the leading Brâhmans collect in little doles from each house a small allowance of rice, put the rice in a cart, take it beyond the limits of the town, and there it is thrown away.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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