Research source

The Palwâr Râjputs of Oudh have a witch ancestress

Date of account: Second edition published 1896
Source: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Reference: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2) · selected passage 180
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

The Palwâr Râjputs of Oudh have a witch ancestress. Soon after the birth of her son she was engaged in baking cakes. Her infant began to cry, and she was obliged to perform a double duty. At this juncture her husband arrived just in time to see his demon wife assume gigantic and supernatural proportions, so as to allow both the baking and nursing to go on at the same time. But finding her secret discovered, the witch disappeared, leaving her son as a legacy to her astonished husband. [781] Here, though the story is incomplete, we have almost certainly, as in the case of Nonâ Chamârin, one of the Melusina type of legend, where the supernatural wife leaves her husband and children, because he violated some taboo, by which he is forbidden to see her in a state of nudity, or the like.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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