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

Kabūtari.—(Pigeon.) A synonym for Kolhāti. A name given to female dancers of the Nat caste.

Kabutkunia.—(Those who find place at the corner of the door.) A subcaste of Sudh in Sambalpur, being the illegitimate issues of the Baro Sudh subcaste.

Kachāra.—Synonym of Kachera.

Kachchhi.—(From Cutch in Gujarāt.) A subdivision of Bālmiki Kāyasths and Mathur Kāyasths.

Kachhap.—(Tortoise.) A totemistic sept of Agharia, Sudh, Bhulia, Chasa, Kamār and Khandait.

Kachhotia.—Subcaste of Jādam.

Kachhutva.—(The tortoise.) A totemistic sept of several groups of Gonds, also of Darzi, Halba, Kol, Rāwat, Munda, Jāt, Kāchhi and Lohār.

Kachhwāha.—(The tortoise.) One of the thirty-six royal races of Rājpūts, the princes of Jaipur or Amber being of this clan. They derive the name from Cutch, or from Kush, an eponymous ancestor. A section of Nāndbansi Ahīr, Gadaria, Kāchhi and Nat. The Kachhwāha section of Gadarias worship the tortoise.

Kada-kalle-bhallavi.—One who uses donkeys for pack-carriage (bhallavi), but stole a horse (kalle-kada). A sept of the Dhurwa clan of Satdeve Gonds in Betūl.

Kagar.—Synonym of Dhīmar.

Kagwaria.—From kagwār, an offering made to the ancestors in the month of Kunwār. Subcaste of Kol.

Kaibartta.—Synonym of Kewat.

Kaikādi.—Synonym of Kaikāri.

Kainthwāns.—A subcaste of Pāsi in Saugor and Betūl, said to have originated in a cross between a Badhak or Baori, and a Kāyasth woman.

Kaith.—Synonym for Kāyasth.

Kaitha, Kaithia.—Subcaste of Bharbhūnja and Darzi.

Kakra.—One who arranges for the lighting at the marriage and other ceremonies. Subcaste of Chitrakathi.

Kāla.—(Black.) A subcaste of Golkar (Ahīr.

Kālachuri.—Synonym for the Haihaya clan of Rājpūts.

Kalanga.—A caste. A subcaste of Gond.

Kalanki.—A subdivision of Mahārāshtra Brāhmans found in Nāgpur. They are considered degraded, as their name indicates. They are said to have cut up a cow made of flour to please a Muhammadan governor, and to follow some other Muhammadan practices.

Kālapīthia,—(Having black backs.) A subcaste of Savars in Pūri of Orissa. They have the right of dragging the car of Jagannāth.

Kālawant.—Title of Mirāsi.

Kālbelia.—(Catcher of snakes.) A subcaste of Nat.

Kālibelia.—(Bel, an ox.) A section of Chadār. They draw a picture of an ox at their weddings.

Kalihari.—(Bridle.) A section of Teli in Nāndgaon, so named because they presented a bridle to their king.

Kalkhor.—(Castor-oil plant.) A totemistic sept of the Audhalia caste.

Kalutia, Kalota.—A subtribe of Gonds in Chānda and Betūl.

Kalwar.—Synonym of Kalār.

Kāmad. 447—A small caste of jugglers, who come from Rājputāna and travel about in the Hoshangābād and Nimār Districts. They were not returned at the census, and appear to belong to Rājpūtāna. Their special entertainment consists in playing with cymbals, and women are the chief performers. The woman has eight or nine cymbals secured to her legs before and behind, and she strikes these rapidly in turn with another held in her hand, twisting her body skilfully so as to reach all of them, and keeping time with the music played on guitar-like instruments by the men who accompany her. If the woman is especially skilful, she will also hold a naked sword in her mouth, so as to increase the difficulty of the performance.

The Kāmads dress after the Rājpūtāna fashion, and wear yellow ochre-coloured clothes. Their exogamous sections have Rājpūt names, as Chauhān, Panwār, Gudesar, Jogpāl and so on, and like the Rājpūts they send a cocoanut-core to signify a proposal for marriage. But the fact that they have a special aversion to Dhobis and will not touch them makes it possible that they originated from the Dom caste, who share this prejudice.448 Reason has been found to suppose that the Kanjars, Kolhātis and other migrant groups of entertainers are sprung from the Doms, and the Kāmads may be connected with these. No caste, not even the sweepers, will accept food from the Kāmads. They employ a Brāhman, however, to officiate at their marriage and death ceremonies. Like the Gosains the Kāmads bury their dead in a sitting posture, a niche being hollowed out at the side of the grave in which the corpse is placed. Crushed bread (malīda) and a gourd full of water are laid beside the corpse. The caste worship the footprints of Rāmdeo, a saint of Mārwār, and pay special reverence to the goddess Hinglāj, who is a deity of several castes in Rājpūtāna.

Kamalbansī.—(Stock of the lotus.) Subcaste of Kawar.

Kamal Kul.—(Lotus.) A section of Komti. They do not use lotus roots nor yams.

Kamari, Kailwa.—One of the thirty-six royal races of Rājpūts.

Kamaria.—(From kambal, blanket.) A subcaste of Ahīr. A section of Dhīmar and Sonkar.

Kāmāthi, Kāmāti.—A term applied in the Marātha Districts to immigrants from Madras. It is doubtful whether the Kāmāthis have become a caste, but about 150 persons returned this name as their caste in the Central Provinces and Berār in 1911, and there are about 7000 in India, none, however, being recorded from the Madras Presidency. It is stated that the word Kāmāthi means ‘fool’ in Tamil, and that in Bombay all Telugus are called Kāmāthis, to whatever caste they may belong. Similarly, Marātha immigrants into Madras are known by the generic name of Arya,449 and those coming from Hindustān into the Nerbudda valley as Pardeshi, while in the same locality the Brāhmans and Rājpūts of Central India are designated by the Marāthas as Rāngra. This term has the signification of rustic or boorish, and is therefore a fairly close parallel to Kāmāthi, if the latter word has the meaning given above. In the Thāna District of Bombay450 people of many classes are included under the name of Kāmāthi. Though they do not marry or even eat together, the different classes of Kāmāthis have a strong feeling of fellowship, and generally live in the same quarter of the town. In the Central Provinces the Kāmāthis are usually masons and house-builders or labourers. They speak Telugu in their houses and Marāthī to outsiders. In Sholapur451 the Kāmāthis dress like Kunbis. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling, and appear to have become a regular caste. Their priests are Telugu Brāhmans, and their ceremonies resemble those of Kunbis. On the third day after a child is born the midwife lifts it up for the first time, and it is given a few light blows on the back. For three days the child sucks one end of a rag the other end of which rests in a saucer of honey, and the mother is fed on rice and clarified butter. On the fourth day the mother begins to suckle the child. Until the mother is pregnant a second time, no choti or scalp-lock is allowed to grow on the child’s head. When she becomes pregnant, she is taken with the child before the village god, and a tuft of hair is thereafter left to grow on the crown of its head.

Kamma.—A large cultivating caste of the Madras Presidency, of which a few representatives were returned from the Chānda District in 1911. They are derived from the same Dravidian stock as the other great cultivating castes of Madras, and, originally soldiers by profession, have now settled down to agriculture. No description of the caste need be given here, but the following interesting particulars may be recorded. The word Kamma means an ear ornament, and according to tradition a valuable jewel of this kind belonging to a Rāja of Wārangal fell into the hands of his enemies. One section of the great Kāpu caste, boldly attacking the foe and recovering the jewel, were hence called Kamma, while another section, which ran away, received the derogatory title of Velama (veli, away). Another story says that the Kammas and Velamas were originally one caste, and had adopted the Muhammadan system of gosha or purda. But finding that they were thus handicapped in competition with the other cultivating castes, it was proposed that the new custom should be abandoned. Those who agreed to this signed a bond, which was written on a palm-leaf (kamma), and hence received their new name. In the Central Provinces the Kammas are divided into three subcastes, the Illuvellāni or those who do not go out of the house, the Tadakchātu or those who live within tadaks or mat screens, and the Polumtir or those who go into the fields. These names are derived from the degrees in which the different subdivisions seclude their women, the Illuvellāni observing strict purda and the Polumtir none whatever, while the Tadakchātu follow a middle course. On this account some social difference exists between the three subcastes, and when the Illuvellāni dine with either of the other two they will not eat from the plates of their hosts, but take their food separately on a leaf. And the Tadakchātu practise a similar distinction with the Polumtir, but the two latter divisions do not decline to eat from plates or vessels belonging to an Illuvellāni. The Kammas forbid a man to marry in the gotra or family group to which he belongs, but a wife from the same gotra as his mother’s is considered a most desirable match, and if his maternal uncle has a daughter he should always take her in marriage. A man is even permitted to marry his own sister’s daughter, but he may not wed his mother’s sister’s daughter, who is regarded as his own sister. Among the Kammas of the Tamil country Mr. (Sir H.) Stuart452 states that a bride is often much older than her husband, and a case is cited in which a wife of twenty-two years of age used to carry her boy-husband on her hip as a mother carries her child. One other curious custom recorded of the caste may be noticed. A woman dying within the lifetime of her husband is worshipped by her daughters, granddaughters or daughters-in-law, and in their absence by her husband’s second wife if he has one. The ceremony is performed on some festival such as Dasahra or Til-Sankrānt, when a Brāhman lady, who must not be a widow, is invited and considered to represent the deceased ancestor. She is anointed and washed with turmeric and saffron, and decorated with sandal-paste and flowers; a new cloth and breast-cloth are then presented to her which she puts on; sweets, fruit and betel-leaf are offered to her, and the women of the family bow down before her and receive her benediction, believing that it comes from their dead relative.

Kammala.—A small Telugu caste in the Chānda District. The name Kammala is really a generic term applied to the five artisan castes of Kamsala or goldsmith, Kanchara or brazier, Kammara or blacksmith, Vadra or carpenter, and Silpi or stone-mason. These are in reality distinct castes, but they are all known as Kammalas. The Kammalas assert that they are descended from Visva Karma, the architect of the gods, and in the Telugu country they claim equality with Brāhmans, calling themselves Visva Brāhmans. But inscriptions show that as late as the year A.D. 1033 they were considered a very inferior caste and confined to the village site.453 Mr. (Sir H.) Stuart writes in the Madras Census Report that it is not difficult to account for the low position formerly held by the Kammalas, for it must be remembered that in early times the military castes in India as elsewhere looked down upon all engaged in labour, whether skilled or otherwise. With the decline of military power, however, it was natural that a useful caste like the Kammalas should gradually improve its position, and the reaction from this long oppression has led them to make the exaggerated claims described above, which are ridiculed by every other caste, high or low. The five main subdivisions of the caste do not intermarry. They have priests of their own and do not allow even Brāhmans to officiate for them, but they invite Brāhmans to their ceremonies. Girls must be married before puberty. The binding ceremony of the marriage consists in the tying of a circular piece of gold on a thread of black beads round the bride’s neck by the bridegroom. Widow-marriage is prohibited.

Kammari.—Telugu Lohārs or blacksmiths.

Kamsala.—(A goldsmith.) Subcaste of Kammala.

Kanalsia.—(Kanelu, a tile.) A section of Ahīr in Nimār who do not live in tiled huts.

Kānare.—(A resident of Canara.) A subcaste of Dhangar.

Kanaujia, Kānkubja.—A very common subcaste name, indicating persons whose ancestors are supposed to have come from the town of Kanauj in northern India, into the Central Provinces. A subcaste of Ahīr, Bahna, Bharbhūnja, Bhāt, Brāhman, Dahāit, Darzi, Dhobi, Halwai, Lohār, Māli, Nai, Patwa, Sunār and Teli.

Kanbajia or Ahirwār.—Same as Kanaujia. Subcaste of Chamār.

Kanchara.—(A brassworker.) Subcaste of Kammala.

Kand.—(Roots or tubers of wild plants.) A section of Rāghuvansi Rājpūts in Hoshangābād.

Kanda Potel.—(One who grows roots.) A section of Mali.

Kande.—Subcaste of Bedar.

Kandera.—Synonym for Kadera. Subcaste of Bahna.

Kandh.—Synonym of Khond. A subcaste of Taonla in Sambalpur.

Kandhana.—Subcaste of Khond.

Kandhia.—(A big-beaked vulture.) A sept of Dhanwar.

Kandia.—(Kandi, a shell, also a snake.) A section of Teli in Betūl.

Kandol.—A subcaste of Brāhmans, who take their name from the village Kandol, in Kāthiāwār.

Kandra.—A small caste of bamboo-workers in the Uriya country, akin to the Basors elsewhere. Members of the caste are found in small numbers in the Raipur and Bālāghāt Districts. The word Kandra may be derived from kānd, an arrow, just as Dhānuk, often a synonym for Basor, has the meaning of an archer. It is not improbable that among the first articles made of bamboo were the bow and arrow of the forest tribes, and that the bow-maker was the parent of the modern Basor or basket-maker, bows being a requisite of an earlier stage of civilisation than baskets. In Bhandāra the Kandras are an offshoot of Gonds. Their women do not wear their cloths over the head, and knot their hair behind without plaiting it. They talk a Gondi dialect and are considered an impure caste.

Kandu.—(A grain-parcher.) A synonym and subcaste of Bharbhūnja. A subcaste of Halwai.

Kandua.—(From kānd, onion, as they eat onions.) A subcaste of Bharbhūnja.

Kanera.—(From the kaner tree.) A totemistic section of Gānda and Khangār.

Kangāli.—(Poor.) A common sept of Gonds.

Kanhejin.—Subcaste of Banjāra.

Kānhpuria.—(From Cawnpore, which was founded by their eponymous hero Kānh.) A clan of Rājpūts.

Kanjar.—A caste of gipsies. A subcaste of Banjāra.

Kānkubja.—See Kanaujia.

Kānnow.—A sectarian division of Brāhmans.

Kanphata.—(One who has his ears bored or pierced.) A class of Jogi mendicants.

Kansāri.—Synonym of Kasār.

Kanwar.—Synonym of Kawar.

Kanwarbansi.—A subtribe of Khairwār.

Kaonra or Kora.—A caste. A subcaste of Ahīr.

Kaore.—A sept of Gonds. A surname of Marātha Brāhmans.

Kapalia.—(Covered with skulls.) A section of Telis in Betūl.

Kaparia.—(From kapra cloth, owing to their wearing several dresses, which they change rapidly like the Bahrūpia.) Synonym of Basdewa.

Kapasia.—(From kapās, cotton.) A section of Mahār.

Kapdi.—Synonym of Basdewa.

Kapur.—(Camphor.) A section of Khatri.

Kapuria.—A subdivision of Arhaighar Sāraswat Brāhmans in Hoshangābād, probably deriving their title from being the priests of the Kapur section of Khatris.

Karai Nor.—A section of Basor. They perform the Meher ceremony of eating the marriage cakes near a well and not in the house.

Karāit.—(A poisonous snake.) A section of Ahīr, Halba and Panka.

Karan (Mahanti).—A caste. A subcaste of Kāyasth. An eponymous section of Binjhwār and Tānti.

Karaola.—(One who pours sesamum oil on his clothes and begs.) Synonym for Jasondhi and Bhāt.

Karbal.—Subcaste of Khangār.

Karchuli.—A clan of Rājpūts, formerly a ruling race in the Jubbulpore country. See Rājpūt-Haihāya. A section of Joshi and Mochi.

Kare, Karia.—(Black.) A subcaste of Marār. A section of Binjhwār, Ahīr, Chhīpa and Lodhi.

Karela.—(Bitter gourd.) A section of Sonkar.

Karhāda.—A subcaste of Mahārāshtra Brāhmans deriving their name from Karhād, near the junction of the Krishna and Koyana rivers, about fifteen miles from Satāra.

Karhaiya.—(Frying-pan.) A section of Rāghuvansi.

Karīgar.—(A workman.) An honorific title of Barhai and Lohār. A subcaste and synonym of Beldār.

Karijāt.—Subcaste of Pārdhi. The members of this subcaste only kill birds of a black colour.

Karkarkadhe.—(Stone-diggers.) Subcaste of Māng.

Karnam.—Synonym of Karan, a palm-leaf writer.

Karnata, Karnataka.—One of the five orders of Pānch Dravida or southern Brāhmans, inhabiting the Canarese country.

Karnati.—(From the Carnatic.) Synonym for a class of Nats or acrobats.

Karohla.—A religious mendicant who wanders about singing praises of Devi. See Jasondhi.

Karpachor.—(Stealer of straw.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betūl.

Karsayāl.—(A deer.) A sept of the Kawar tribe. Also a sept of Ahīr, Bhaina, Dhobi in Chhattīsgarh, Kewat, Lohar and Turi.

Karsi.—(From kalas, a pitcher.) A totemistic sept of Kawar. They do not drink water from a red jar on the Akti festival.

Karwa.—Subcaste of Kunbi.

Karwar.—(An oar.) A section of Dāngi in Damoh. A section of Kawar.

Kasai.—A caste of butchers. Name applied to Banjāras.

Kasar.—A caste. A subdivision of Audhia Sunār. A section of Kewat.

Kasarwāni.—A subcaste of Bania.

Kasaundhan.—A subcaste of Bania.

Kasda.—(One who hides himself in the bed of the river.) A sept of Korku; a man of this sept has the privilege of directing the ceremony for the readmission of an outcaste.

Kasdhonia.—A subcaste of Dhīmar. They wash the sand in the sacred rivers for coins thrown there by pilgrims, and dive into water to find lost ornaments or gold.

Kasera.—Synonym of Kasār.

Kāshi.—(Benares.) A section of Agharia, Ahīr, Dhuri, Kewat, Kurmi and Māli.

Kashyap.—Name of a famous Rishi or saint. The name may perhaps be really derived from kachhap, a tortoise. One of the common eponymous sections of Brāhmans. Also a section of Barai, Bāri, Beldār, Bharbhūnja, Bhulia, Binjhwār, Chandnāhu Kurmi, Gond, Jangam, Joshi, Kalār, Kasār, Kasarwāni Bania, Khangār, Nai, Rājpūt, Sunār. Some castes say that they are all of the Kashyap gotra or section, the tortoise being considered a common ancestor of mankind, because it supports the world.

Kasia.—(Kānsa, or bell-metal.) A section of Chamār. They draw a picture of a bell-metal dish at their weddings.

Kasondhi.—A subcaste of Bania.

Kassāb, Kassia.—(A butcher.) Synonym of Kasai.

Kāst.—A small caste found in the Marātha Districts and Bombay, who appear to be a separate or inferior group of the Kāyasths. In Chānda they work as patwāris and clerks to moneylenders, while some are merchants and landholders. Like the Kāyasths, they wash their pens and inkstands on the Dasahra festival and worship them. Their principal deity is the god Venkatesh, a Marātha incarnation of Vishnu. In Bombay the Kāsts claim to be Yajur-Vedi Brāhmans, dress like them and keep the regular Brāhman ceremonies.454 But they are considered to be half Marāthas and half Brāhmans, and strict Deshasth and Kokanasth Brāhmans hold their touch unclean.455

Katāre.—(Katār, dagger.) A surname of Sanādhya Brāhmans in Saugor. A section of Agarwāl and Oswāl Bania, Chhattīsgarhi Ahīr or Rāwat, Chadār and Basor. The Katāre sept of Basors worship a dagger.

Katharia.—(From Kathibar, the old name of eastern Rohilkhand.) A section of Gadaria and Kasār.

Kathbhaina;—Subcaste of Baiga in Bilāspur.

Kāthi.—A Rājpūt clan included in the thirty-six royal races of Rājpūts. Originally an indigenous tribe of Gujarāt, who gave their name to Kāthiāwār.

Kathia.—Name of an Akhāra or school of Bairāgi religious mendicants. See Bairāgi.

Kathotia.—(Kathotia, a wooden bowl.) A section of Darzi.

Kati or Khatti.—Subcaste of Bhuiya.

Katia.—A cast of spinners. A subcaste of Balāhi and Mahār.

Kattri.—Subcaste of Are.

Katwa.—(From Kātna, to cut.) Synonym of Katia and Chamār.

Kaur.—Synonym of Kawar.

Kaushalya.—(From Koshal, the name of a famous Rishi or saint.) A section of Agarwāl Bania, Darzi, Lodhi and Khatri Sunār.

Kaushik.—The name of a Rishi or saint. An eponymous section of Brāhmans. A section of Ahīr, Dhobi, Rājpūt, Sunār and other castes.

Kavirāj.—Title of a Bhāt who has the qualification of literacy, and can therefore read the old Sanskrit medical works. A physician.

Kāyasth Patwa.—A subcaste of Patwa in Hoshangābād and Saugor.

Kekre.—Subcaste of Gūjar.

Kesaria.—(From kesar, saffron.) A section of Ahīr and Gadaria.

Kewat.—A caste. A subcaste of Dhīmar and Mallāh.

Khad.—Subcaste of Māna.

Khadāl.—A caste of palanquin-carriers.

Khadāl 456 (honorific titles Nayak and Behera).—A small Dravidian caste of labourers in the Uriya country. In 1901 they numbered 1200 persons and resided principally in the Patna and Sonpur States now transferred to Bengal. The Khadāls are probably an offshoot of the great Bauri caste of Bengal, with which the members of the caste in Patna admitted their identity, though elsewhere they deny it. Their traditional occupations of palanquin-bearing and field labour are identical with those of the Bauris, as stated by Sir H. Risley.457 The name Khadāl is a functional one, denoting persons who work with a hoe. The Khadāls have totemistic exogamous groups, the Kilāsi sept worshipping a tree, the Julsi and Kanduālsi sept a snake-hole, and Balunāsi a stone and others the sun. Each sept salutes the revered object or totem on seeing it, and those who worship trees will not burn them or stand in their shade. When a marriage takes place they worship the totem and offer to it flowers, sandalwood, vermilion, uncooked rice, and the new clothes and ornaments intended for the bride, which she may not wear until this ceremony has been performed. Another curious custom adopted by the Khadāls in imitation of the Hindus is that of marrying adult boys and girls, for whom a partner has not been found, to a tree. But this does not occur when they arrive at puberty as among Hindu castes, but when a boy still unmarried becomes thirty years old and a girl twenty. In such a case he or she is married to a mango, cotton or jāmun tree, and after this no second ceremony need be performed on subsequent union with a wife or husband. A widower must pay Rs. 10, or double the usual price, for a second wife, owing to the risk of her death being caused by the machinations of the first wife’s spirit. When a corpse has been buried or burnt the mourners each take a twig of mango and beat about in the grass to start a grasshopper. Having captured one they wrap it in a piece of new cloth, and coming home place it beside the family god. This they call bringing back the life of the soul, and consider that the ceremony procures salvation for the dead. The Khadāls are usually considered as impure, but those of Sonpur have attained a somewhat higher status.

Khadia.—(A kind of snake.) A section of Ahīr and Rāghuvansi. A sept of Nahal.