The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 1

Bhūra.—(Grey.) One of the sections of Oswāl Bania. A proper name.

Bhusar.—(Lord of the earth.) A title of Brāhman.

Bhusārjīn.—(From bhūsa, the chaff of wheat.) Subcaste of Banjāra.

Bhuskate.—(From bhūsa, fodder, one who supplies fodder.) A family name.

Bhūta.—A subtribe of Gond in Betūl, the same as Koilabhūta. They are said to be of immoral character.

Biar.—Synonym of Bayar.

Bichhuwa, Bichhi.—(From bichhu, scorpion.) A section of Dhobi and Kawar.

Bidur.—Synonym of the Vidūr caste.

Biloria.—(From bilori, marble stone.) A section of Chhipa.

Bilwār.—Synonym of Belwār, a carrier and cattle-dealer.

Bind.—A large non-Aryan caste of Bihār and the United Provinces, of which 380 persons were returned in 1911. Sir H. Risley says of them:428 “They are a tribe employed in agriculture, earthwork, fishing, hunting, making saltpetre and collecting indigenous drugs. Traditions current among the caste profess to trace their origin to the Vindhya hills, and one of these legends tells how a traveller, passing by the foot of the hills, heard a strange flute-like sound coming out of a clump of bamboos. He cut a shoot and took from it a fleshy substance which afterwards grew into a man, the supposed ancestor of the Binds. Another story says that the Binds and Nunias were formerly all Binds and that the present Nunias are the descendants of a Bind who consented to dig a grave for a Muhammadan king and was outcasted for doing so.” A third legend tells how in the beginning of all things Mahādeo made a lump of earth and endowed it with life. The creature thus produced asked Mahādeo what he should eat. The god pointed to a tank and told him to eat the fish in it and the wild rice which grew near the banks. Mr. Crooke429 says that they use fish largely except in the fortnight (Pitripaksh) sacred to the dead in the month of Kunwār, and Sir H. Risley notes that after the rice harvest the Binds wander about the country digging up the stores of rice accumulated by field rats in their burrows. From four to six pounds of grain are usually found, but even this quantity is sometimes exceeded. The Binds also feast on the rats, but they deny this, saying that to do so would be to their own injury, as a reduction of the next year’s find of grain would thus be caused.

Binjhāl.—Synonym of Binjhwār.

Binjhwār.—A caste derived from the Baiga tribe. A subtribe of Baiga and Gond. A subcaste of Gowāri.

Birchheya.—(A dweller in the forest.) Subcaste of Ghosi.

Birchkia.—(From birchka, a tree.) A subcaste of Ghosi.

Birhor.—A small Kolarian tribe of whom about 150 persons were returned in 1911 from the Chota Nāgpur States. The name means a dweller in the forest. Sir H. Risley states that the Birhors live in tiny huts made of branches of trees and leaves, and eke out a miserable living by snaring hares and monkeys, and collecting jungle products, especially the bark of the chob creeper,430 from which a coarse kind of rope is made. They are great adepts at ensnaring monkeys and other small animals, and sell them alive or eat them. Colonel Dalton described them as,431 “A small, dirty, miserable-looking race, who have the credit of devouring their parents, and when I taxed them with it they did not deny that such a custom had once obtained among them. But they declared they never shortened lives to provide such feasts and shrank with horror from the idea of any bodies but those of their own blood-relatives being served up to them.” It would appear that this custom may be partly ceremonial, and have some object, such as ensuring that the dead person should be born again in the family or that the survivors should not be haunted by his ghost. It has been recorded of the Bhunjias that they ate a small part of the flesh of their dead parents.432 Colonel Dalton considered the Birhors to be a branch of the Kharia tribe, and this is borne out by Dr. Grierson’s statement that the specimen of the Birhor dialect returned from the Jashpur State was really Kharia.433 Elsewhere the Birhor dialect resembles Mundāri.

Birjhia, Birjia. (One who practises bewar or shifting cultivation in a forest.) Subcaste of Binjhwār, Baiga and Korwa.

Bīrkhandia.—From Bīrkhand (Sand of heroes), a name for Rājputāna. A section of Teli.

Birtiya. Title of Nai or barber.

Bisen, Bisān.—A clan of Rājpūt. A section of Daharia and of Panwār Rājpūt. A section of Marār.

Bobaiaya.—(From Bobbili, a town in Madras.) A section of Teli in Chānda.

Bogam.—A name for Madrāsi prostitutes, perhaps a separate caste. Their honorific title is Sani.

Bohra.—A Muhammadan caste. A section of Oswāl Bania.

Bombay.—A subdivision of Vālmiki Kāyasth.

Bondoya—A resident of Jītgarh and the Pachmarhi tract of the Central Provinces. Subcaste of Korku.

Bopchi.—A section of Pānwar Rājpūt.

Bopchi—A small caste in the Wardha District numbering a few hundred persons. They are in reality Korkus, the name being a corruption of that of the Bendoya subtribe, but they have discarded their proper tribal name and formed a separate caste. They retain some of the Korku sept names, while others are derived from the Marāthi words or from the names of other castes, and these facts indicate that the Bopchis are of mixed descent from Korkus and other low Marātha castes with which unions have taken place. As might be expected, they are very tolerant of sexual and social offences, and do not expel a woman who has a liaison with a man of another caste or takes food from him. She is readmitted to caste intercourse, but has to undergo the penalty of washing her body with cowdung and having a lock of her hair cut off. A man committing a similar offence has his upper lip shaved. They employ Gosains for their gurus and their social position is very low.

Borākar.(A mat-maker.) Synonym of Gopāl.

Borjharia.—(Bor-plum.) A sept of Halba.

Brahmachare.—(A celibate.) Subcaste of Manbhao.

Brāhman Gaur, or Bāmhan Gaur.—A branch of the Gaur clan of Rājpūts. A subcaste of Bhāt.

Brid-dhari.—Begging Bhāts. Subcaste of Bhāt.

Brihaspati, Brahaspati.—An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Buchar.—A corruption of the English word ‘butcher.’ Subcaste of Khatīk in Agra.

Budālgir.—(From budla, a leathern bag made for the transport and storage of oil and ghī (butter).) Subcaste of Chamār.

Bukekari.—(A seller of scented powder (bukka).) Synonym of Atāri.

Bundela.—A clan of Rājpūts of mixed descent. Name probably from the Vindhya hills. A subcaste of Basor. A sept of Manihār and Rāwat.

Bundelkhandi.—A resident of Bundelkhand. Subcaste of Basdewa, Barai, Basor, Chamār, Darzi, Dhobi, Kumhār, Lohār, Nai and Sunār.

Bundhrajia.—Subcaste of Kamār.

Bunkar.—(A weaver.) Title of Balāhi.

Burad.—A synonym for the Basor caste of bamboo-workers. A section of Koshti and Oswāl Bania.

Burthia.—Subcaste of Chāran Banjāra.

Burud.—(A bamboo-worker.) Synonym for Basor in the Marātha country.

Butka.—(One who brings leaves.) Subcaste of Chasa.

Byahūt.—(Married.) Subcaste of Kalār.

Chadār.—A caste. A subcaste of Kori.

Chakere.—(One who uses the potter’s wheel in localities where other Kumhārs do not use it.) Subcaste of Kumhār.

Chakla.—(A professional washerman.) Synonym for Dhobi.

Chalukya.—A synonym for Solanki Rājpūts. (Perhaps from chhullu or challu, hollow of the hand.) A subcaste of Panwār Rājpūt.

Chamār, Chamara.—(From chamra, a hide.) The well-known caste of tanners. A subcaste of Banjāra, Barhai and Darzi.

Chamār Gaur.—(Chamār and Gaur.) A well-known clan of Rājpūts. See Rājpūt-Gaur.

Chambhār.—Name of the Chamār caste in Berār.

Chamra.—A contemptuous diminutive for the Chamār caste in Chhattīsgarh.

Chandan, Chandania.—(Sandalwood.) A section of Chamār, Kawar, Khangār and Kurmi.

Chandel.—A famous clan of Rājpūts. See Rājpūt-Chandel.

Chāndewār.—(Belonging to Chānda.) Subcaste of Injhwār.

Chandi.—(One who hides behind a fishing-net.) A sept of Korku.

Chandra, Chandrāha. (From chanda, the moon.) A section of Gūjar and Teli.

Chandravansi or Somvansi.—(Descended from the moon.) A clan of Rājpūts.

Chandravedi.—Synonym of Sanaurhia, meaning ‘One who observes the moon.’

Chankhatia.—A subcaste of Bhuiya and Chamār.

Channāgri.—A small Jain sect. A subcaste of Bania.

Chanti.—Name derived from chiti, an ant. Subcaste of Kawar. A section of Kumhār.

Chānwar.—(Whisk.) A totemistic sept of Kawar and Pābia.

Charak.—A subdivision of Marātha Brāhman; a section of Brāhman.

Chāran.—Subcaste of Banjāra and Bhāt. Title of Bhāt in Rājputāna.

Chārdeve.—A clan of Gonds worshiping four gods and paying special reverence to the tortoise.

Chārghar.—(Four houses.) A subdivision of Sāraswat Brāhmans.

Chārnāgri.—A Jain sect or subcaste of Bania.

Chatrapati.—(Lord of the umbrella.) Title of the ancient Indian kings.

Chatri, Chhatri.—A common synonym for a Rājpūt. A subcaste of Bhāmta.

Chatūrbhuji.—(Four-armed.) An epithet of Vishnu. A title of the Chauhān clan of Rājpūts. A class of Bairāgis or religious mendicants.

Chaube, Chaturvedi.—(From Chaturvedi, or one learned in the four Vedas.) A surname for Kanaujia, Jijhotia and other Hindustāni Brāhmans. Subcaste of Banjara.

Chaubhaiya.—(Four brothers.) A subdivision of Sāraswat Brāhmans. They take wives from the Athbhaiya subdivision, but do not give girls to them in marriage.

Chaudhri, Chaudhari, Choudhri.—(A headman, the first person.) Title of Kalār Panwār, Rājpūt and other castes; title of Dhobi, vice-president of the caste committee. A section of Ahīr, Maheshri Bania, Gadaria, Gūjar, Halba and Marār (Māli). A subdivision of Kāpewār.

Chauhān.—A famous clan of Rājpūts. Name of a low caste of village watchmen in Chhattīsgarh, perhaps the illegitimate descendants of Panwār Rājpūts.

Chauka.—Title of the Kabīrpanthi religious service. The chauk is a sanctified place on the floor of the house or yard, plastered with cowdung and marked out with lines of wheat-flour or quartz-dust within which ceremonies are performed.

Chaukhūtia.—A term which signifies a bastard in Chhattīsgarh. Subcaste of Bhunjia.

Chauske.—Subcaste of Kalār. They are so called because they prohibit the marriage of persons having a common ancestor up to four generations.

Chaurāsia.—Resident of a Chaurāsi or estate of eighty-four villages. Subcaste of Barai and Bhoyar. A section of Dhīmar and Kumhār. Many estates are called by this name, grants of eighty-four villages having been commonly made under native rule.

Chawara, Chaura.—One of the thirty-six royal races of Rājpūts.

Chenchuwār, Chenchuwād or Chenchu—A forest tribe of the Telugu country of whom a few persons were returned from the Chānda District in 1911. In Madras the tribe is known as Chenchu, and the affix wād or wādu merely signifies person or man.434 The marriage ceremony of the Chenchus may be mentioned on account of its simplicity. The couple sometimes simply run away together at night and return next day as husband and wife, or, if they perform a rite, walk round and round a bow and arrow stuck into the ground, while their relations bless them and throw rice on their heads. Each party to a marriage can terminate it at will without assigning any reason or observing any formality. The bodies of the dead are washed and then buried with their weapons.

Chenr.—(Little.) Subcaste of Bhānd.

Cheorākuta.—(One who prepares cheora or pounded rice.) Subcaste of Dhuri.

Chero.435—A well-known tribe of the Munda or Kolarian family, found in small numbers in the Chota Nāgpur Feudatory States. They are believed to have been at one time the rulers of Bihār, where numerous monuments are attributed, according to the inquiries of Buchanan and Dalton, to the Kols and Cheros. “In Shāhābād436 also most of the ancient monuments are ascribed to the Cheros, and it is traditionally asserted that the whole country belonged to them in sovereignty. An inscription at Budh Gaya mentions one Phudi Chandra who is traditionally said to have been a Chero. The Cheros were expelled from Shāhābād, some say by the Sawaras (Saonrs), some say by a tribe called Hariha; and the date of their expulsion is conjectured to be between the fifth and sixth centuries of the Christian era. Both Cheros and Sawaras were considered by the Brāhmans of Shāhābād as impure or Mlechchas, but the Harihas are reported good Kshatriyas.

“The overthrow of the Cheros in Mithila and Magadha seems to have been complete. Once lords of the Gangetic provinces, they are now found in Shāhābād and other Bihār Districts only holding the meanest offices or concealing themselves in the woods skirting the hills occupied by their cousins, the Kharwārs; but in Palāmau they retained till a recent period the position they had lost elsewhere. A Chero family maintained almost an independent rule in that pargana till the accession of the British Government; they even attempted to hold their castles and strong places against that power, but were speedily subjugated, forced to pay revenue and submit to the laws. They were, however, allowed to retain their estates; and though the rights of the last Rāja of the race were purchased by Government in 1813, in consequence of his falling into arrears, the collateral branches of the family have extensive estates there still. According to their own traditions (they have no trustworthy annals) they have not been many generations in Palāmau. They invaded that country from Rohtās, and with the aid of Rājpūt chiefs, the ancestors of the Thakurais of Ranka and Chainpur drove out and supplanted a Rājpūt Rāja of the Raksel family, who retreated into Sargūja and established himself there.

“All the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military service grants of land, which they still retain. The Kharwārs were then the people of most consideration in Palāmau, and they allowed the Cheros to remain in peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sargūja. It is popularly asserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palāmau they numbered twelve thousand families, and the Kharwārs eighteen thousand; and if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he belongs, he will say, not that he is a Chero or a Kharwār, but that he belongs to the twelve thousand or to the eighteen thousand, as the case may be. The Palāmau Cheros now live strictly as Rājpūts and wear the paita or caste thread.”

It has been suggested in the article on Khairwār that the close connection between the two tribes may arise from the Kharwārs or Khairwārs having been an occupational offshoot of the Cheros and Santāls.

In Palāmau437 the Cheros are now divided into two subcastes, the Bāra-hazār or twelve thousand, and the Terah-hazār or thirteen thousand, who are also known as Birbandhi. The former are the higher in rank and include most of the descendants of former ruling families, who assume the title Bābuān. The Terah-hazār are supposed to be the illegitimate offspring of the Bāra-hazār.

“The distinctive physical traits of the Cheros,” Colonel Dalton states, “have been considerably softened by the alliances with pure Hindu families, which their ancient power and large possessions enabled them to secure; but they appear to me still to exhibit an unmistakable Mongolian physiognomy. They vary in colour, but are usually of a light brown. They have, as a rule, high cheek-bones, small eyes obliquely set, and eyebrows to correspond, low broad noses, and large mouths with protuberant lips.”

Cherwa.—Subcaste of Kawar.

Chetti.—Subcaste of Gandli.

Chhachān.—(A hawk.) A section of Rāwat (Ahīr).

Chhadesia.—(A man of six districts.) Subcaste of Banjāra.

Chhadīdār or Darwān.—Title of the Dahaits, who were door-keepers of the Rājas of Mahoba in former times.

Chhanava Kule.—(The ninety-six houses.) A subcaste of Marātha.

Chhatakia.—An illegitimate group of the Kumhār caste.

Chhattīsgarhi, Chhattīsgarhia.—Resident of Chhattīsgarh or the region of the thirty-six forts, a name given to the eastern tract of the Central Provinces. Subcaste of Bahna, Darzi and Halba.

Chhehghar (Chhenghar).—(Members of the six houses.) A hypergamous division of Kanaujia Brāhmans. They take daughters from the other two divisions, but do not give their daughters to them.

Chhīpa.—(A dyer.) Synonym of Darzi.

Chhoha or Saroria.—A subcaste of Agharia of mixed descent.

Chholia.—(Rubbish.) A section of Rājjhar.

Chhote.—(Inferior.) Subcaste of Agharia and Teli.

Chhoti Pangat.—A subcaste of Halba, Synonym Surāit. Chhoti Pangat signifies the inferior caste feast, and the implication is that these members cannot join in the proper feast.

Chhotki Bhir or Gorhi.—(Low.) Subcaste of Rautia.

Chhura,—(Razor.) A section of Panka. It was their business to shave other members of the caste after a death;

Chicham.—(Hawk.)—A sept of Gonds.

Chicheria.—(From church, forelock, which the children of this sept wear.) A sept of Dhīmar.

Chika.—Subcaste of Majhwār.

Chikwa.—Synonym of Khatīk.

Chinchkul.—A section of Komti. They abstain from the use of ginger and from the juice of the bhilawa or marking-nut tree.

Chīta Pūrdhi, Chīlewāla.—(Leopard-hunter.) A subcaste of Pārdhi.

Chiturkar, Chitrakar.—(A painter.) Synonym for Chitāri.

Chiter.—(A painter.) See Chitāri.

Chitevari.—(One who makes clay idols.) Synonym for Mochi.

Chitpāwan.—(The pure in heart.) A synonym for Konkanasth Brāhman.

Chitragupta Vansi.—(Descendants of Chitragupta.) A name for Kāyasths.

Chobdār.—(A mace-bearer.) Title of Dahāit.

Chorbans.—(Family of thieves.) A section of Chamār.

Chourdhar.—(A whisk-carrier.) A section of Sunār.

Chuhra.—Subcaste of Mehtar. Name for the sweeper caste in the Punjab.

Chungia.—(One who smokes a leaf-pipe.) Subcaste of Chamār and Satnāmi.

Chunwiha.—(From chunri, a coloured sheet worn by women.) A section of Tamera.

Churha.—(Thief.) A subcaste of Sunār. A section of Chhīpa.

Cutchwāha.—Clan of Rājpūt. Synonym for Kachhwaha.

Daharia.—(From Dāhar, the old name of the Jubbulpore country.) A clan of Rājpūts which has developed into a caste. A subcaste of Bhoyar, Kalār, Mahār, Marātha and Teli. A section of Chadār, Chamār and Katia.

Dahāt.—A variant for Dahāit. A subcaste of Khangār.

Dahia.—One of the thirty-six royal races of Rājpūts.

Daijanya.—Subcaste of Chamār. They are so called because their women act as dai or midwives.

Dakhne, Dakshne, Dakshni, Dakshini.—(Belonging to the Deccan.) Subcaste of Bahna, Chamār, Gondhali, Gurao, Kunbi, Mahār, Māng and Nai.

Dakochia.—A synonym for Bhadri, an astrologer.

Dal.—(From dal, an army.) Subcaste of Khond.

Dalboha, Dalbuha.—(One who carries dhoolies or palanquins.) Subcaste of Ghasia and Katia.

Dālia.—(From dāl or the pulse of Burhānpur which had a great reputation). Subcaste of Kunbi.

Dal Khālsa.—(Army of God.) Title of the Sikh army.

Dandewāla.—(One who performs acrobatic feats on a stick or bamboo.) Synonym for Kolhāti.

Dandi.—(One who carries a stick.) Name of a class of religious mendicants. See article Gosain.

Dandsena.—(One who carries a stick.) Subcaste of Kalār.

Dang-charha.—(A rope-climber.) Synonym of Nut.

Dāngiwāra.—Name of part of the Saugor District, which is called after the Dāngi caste. Subcaste of Kadera.

Dāngua.—(A hill-dweller.) Subcaste of Taonla.

Dangūr.—A small caste of hemp weavers numbering about 100 persons, and residing almost entirely in the village of Māsod in Betūl District. They are of the same standing as the caste of Kumrāwat or Patbina which pursues this occupation in other Districts, but acknowledge no connection with them and are probably an occupational offshoot of the Kunbi caste, from whose members they readily accept any kind of cooked food. Like many other small occupational castes with no definite traditions, they profess to have a Kshatriya origin, calling themselves Bhagore Rājpūts, while their families are known by such high-sounding titles as Rāthor, Chauhān, Gaur, Solanki and other well-known Rājpūt names. These pretensions have no foundation in fact, and the Dangūrs formerly did not abjure pork, while they still eat fowls and drink liquor. They neither bathe nor clean their kitchens daily. They may eat food taken from one place to another, but not if they are wearing shoes, this being only permissible in the case when the bridegroom takes his food wearing his marriage shoes.

Dantele.—(With teeth.) A section of Purānia Sunārs in Saugor.

Daraihān.—A small caste of debased Rājpūts found in the Bilāspur District of Chhattīsgarh and numbering some 2000 persons in 1901. They say that their ancestors were Rājpūts from Upper India who settled in Chhattīsgarh some generations back in the village of Dargaon in Raipur District. Thence they were given the name of Dargaihān, which has been corrupted into Daraihān. Others say that the name is derived from dāri, a prostitute, but this is perhaps a libel. In any case they do not care about the name Daraihān and prefer to call themselves Kshatriyas. They have now no connection with the Rājpūts of Upper India, and have developed into an endogamous group who marry among themselves. It seems likely that the caste are an inferior branch of the Daharia cultivating caste of Chhattīsgarh, which is derived from the Daharia clan of Rājpūts.438

Like other Rājpūts the Daraihāns have an elaborate system of septs and subsepts, the former having the names of Rājpūt clans, while the latter are taken from the eponymous gotras of the Brāhmans. There are fourteen septs, named as a rule after the principal Rājpūt clans, of whom four, the Chandel, Kachhwāha, Dhāndhul and Sakrawāra, rank higher than the other ten, and will take daughters from these in marriage, but not give their daughters in return. Besides the septs they have the standard Brāhmanical gotras, as Kausilya, Bhāradwāj, Vasishtha and so on to the number of seven, and the members of each sept are divided into these gotras. Theoretically a man should not take a wife whose sept or gotra is the same as his own. The marriage of first cousins is forbidden, and while the grandchildren of two sisters may intermarry, for the descendants of a brother and a sister the affinity is a bar till the third generation. But the small numbers of the caste must make the arrangement of matches very difficult, and it is doubtful whether these rules are strictly observed. They permit the practice of Gunrāvat or giving a bride for a bride. In other respects the social customs of the caste resemble those of their neighbours, the Daharias, and their rules as to the conduct of women are strict. The men are well built and have regular features and fair complexions, from which their Rājpūt ancestry may still be recognised. They wear the sacred thread. The Daraihāns are good and intelligent cultivators, many of them being proprietors or large tenants, and unlike the Daharias they do not object to driving the plough with their own hands. In the poorer families even the women work in the fields. They have a strong clannish feeling and will readily combine for the support or protection of any member of the caste who may be in need of it.