The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Part 27

_Bandhaiya_.--(From Bandhogarh.) Subcaste of Nai.

_Bandhia_--(From _bandh_, an embankment.) A subcaste of Darzi and Dhimar. A section of Chamar.

_Bandrele_.--(Monkey.) A section of Basor, and Barai.

_Bangh.o.r.e_.--(Wild horses.) A section of Dom (Mehtar).

_Bania_.--A caste. Subcaste of Bishnoi. A synonym of Sunar in Sambalpur. A subcaste of Banjara. A section of Nandvansi Gauli.

_Banka_.--A small caste found princ.i.p.ally in the Kalahandi State which now forms part of Bengal. The caste was formed from military service like the Khandaits, Paiks and Marathas, and some families bear the names of different castes, as Brahman Banka, k.u.mhar Banka, and so on. They were formerly notorious freebooters, but have now settled down to cultivation. Each man, however, still carries a sword or knife on his person, and in Kalahandi they are permitted to do this without taking out a licence.

_Banku_.--(One who frequents sequestered parts of forests.) A sept of Korku.

_Bansberia_.--(One who performs acrobatic feats on a stick or bamboo.) Synonym of Kolhati.

_Bansia_.--(Angler.) From _bansi_, a fishing-hook. Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Bansphor_.--(A breaker of bamboos.) Synonym of Basor. Subcaste of Mehtar and Mahli.

_Banstalai_.--(A tank with bamboo trees on its bank.) A section of Teli.

_Bant_.--Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Bantia_.--(From _banat_, a red woollen blanket.) A section of Oswal Bania.

_Baone_ or _Baonia_.--From the phrase _Bawan Berar_, a term applied to the Province by the Mughals, because it paid fifty-two lakhs of revenue, as against only eight lakhs realised from the adjoining Jhadi or hilly country in the Central Provinces. Subcaste of Kunbi, Mahar and Mali.

_Baoria_.--Synonym of Badhak.

_Bara-hazar._--(Twelve thousand.) Subcaste of Chero.

_Barade, Berari_.--A resident of Berar. Subcaste of Bahna, Barhai, Chamar, Dhangar, Dhobi, Khatik, Mang and Nai.

_Baram_ or _Birm_.--Subcaste of Bhat.

_Barapatre_.--(A large leaf-plate.) A section of Koshti.

_Baraua_.--(A fisherman.) Synonym of Dhimar; t.i.tle of Dhimar.

_Bardhia_.--(From _bardh_, a term for the edge of a weapon.) Synonym of Sikligar.

_Bardia_.--One who uses bullocks for transport. Subcaste of k.u.mhar.

_Baretha_.--(A washerman.) Synonym for Dhobi.

_Barga_.--Subcaste of Oraon.

_Bargah_, [418] _Bargaha_, _Barghat_.--A small caste of cultivators belonging princ.i.p.ally to the Bilaspur District. They appear to be immigrants from Rewah, where the caste is numerically strong, and they are also found in the adjacent Districts of the United Provinces and Bengal. In the United Provinces they are employed as higher domestic servants and make leaf-plates, while their women act as midwives. [419] Here they claim kinship with the Goala Ahirs, but in the Central Provinces and Bengal they advance pretensions to be Rajputs. They have a story, however, which shows their connection with the Ahirs, to the effect that on one occasion Brahma stole Krishna's cows and cowherds. Krishna created new ones to replace them, exactly similar to those lost, but Brahma subsequently returned the originals, and the Bargahas are the descendants of the artificial cowherds created by Krishna. In Sarguja, Bargaha is used as a t.i.tle by Ahirs, while in Rewah the Bargahs are looked on as the b.a.s.t.a.r.d offspring of Baghel Rajputs. Dr. Buchanan writes of them as follows: [420] "In Gorakhpur the Rajput chiefs have certain families of Ahirs, the women of which act as wet-nurses to their children, while the men attend to their persons. These families are called Bargaha; they have received, of course, great favours and many of them are very rich, but others look down upon them as having admitted their women to too great familiarity with their chiefs." In the United Provinces they also claim to be Rajputs, as they returned themselves as a clan of Rajputs in 1881. [421] Their position as described by Buchanan is precisely the same as that of the Dauwa Ahirs, who are the household servants of Bundela Rajputs in Bundelkhand, and the facts set forth above leave little or no doubt that the Bargahs are a mixed caste, arising from the connection of Rajputs with the Ahir women who were their personal servants. In the Central Provinces no subdivisions of the caste exist at present, but a separate and inferior subcaste is in process of formation from those who have been turned out of caste. They are divided for the purpose of marriage into exogamous _gotras_ or clans, the names of which correspond to those of Rajputs, as Kaunsil, Chandel, Rana, Bundela, Rathor, Baghel, Chauhan and others. Marriage between members of the same clan and also between first cousins is prohibited. The custom of _guranwat_ or exchanging girls in marriage between families is very prevalent, and as there is a scarcity of girls in the caste, a man who has not got a daughter must pay Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 to obtain a bride for his son. On the arrival of the marriage procession the bridegroom touches with a dagger a gra.s.s mat hung in front of the marriage-shed. During the marriage the bridegroom's father presents him with a gra.s.s ring, which he places on his wrist. The hands of the bridegroom and bride are tied one over the other with a piece of thread, and the bride's parents catching the hands say to the bridegroom, 'We have given you our daughter; protect her.' The couple then walk seven times round a sacrificial fire and a pestle and slab containing seven pieces of turmeric, nuts and heaps of coloured rice, the bride leading and kicking over a heap of rice from the slab at each turn. The other common ceremonies are also performed. The Bargahs do not tolerate s.e.xual offences and expel a girl or married woman who goes wrong. The Bargahs are usually cultivators in the Central Provinces, but they consider it beneath their dignity to touch the plough with their own hands. Many of them are mlguzrs or village proprietors. They take food cooked without water from a Brahman, and water only from a Rajput. Rajputs take water from their hands, and their social position is fairly high.

_Bargandi_,--Synonym for Kaikari.

_Barghat_.--Synonym of Bargah.

_Barki_.--High. Subcaste of Rautia.

_Barkia_.--(A spinner of fine thread.) Subcaste of Mahar.

_Barmaiyan, Barmian, Malaiya_.--Subcaste of Basor, Dhimar and Gadaria.

_Baroni_.--t.i.tle of a female Dhimar.

_Barora_ or _Warkara_.--(Wild cat.) A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul.

_Barpaihi_.--(_Bar,_ banyan tree.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul, so named because their priest offered food to their G.o.ds on the leaves of a banyan tree.

_Barwa_.--Synonym for Garpagari. One who wards off hailstones from the standing crops. Subcaste of Jogi.

_Bashishta_.--See Vasishta. A section of Vidur.

_Bastarha_.--A resident of Bastar State. Subcaste of Halba.

_Bathri_.--(From _batkur_, a vegetable.) A subcaste of Dhobi and Teli.

_Bathudia_.--Subcaste of Bhuiya.

_Batri_.--A grower of _batar_, a kind of pea. Subcaste of Teli.

_Batti_.--(A ball.) A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul, so named because their priest stole b.a.l.l.s of cooked mahua. They do not kill or eat goats or sheep, and throw away anything smelt by them.

_Bawan, Bawanjaye_.--_(Bawan_-52.) A subcaste of Saraswat Brahmans.

_Bawaria_.--A dweller of Bhanwargarh tract in Betul district. Subcaste of Korku.

_Bawisa_.--(Twenty-two.) A subcaste of Gujarati Brahmans in Hoshangabad and Makrai State.

_Bayar, Biyar, Biar_.--A small caste of labourers belonging to the eastern Districts of the United Provinces, of whom about 200 persons were returned from Bilaspur in 1891. They are found in the Korba zamindari, and are professional diggers or navvies, like the Murhas. They are apparently a mixed caste derived from the primitive tribes with some Hindu blood. They eat fowls and pork, but will not take food from any other caste. They work by contract on the _dangri_ system of measurement, a _dangri_ being a piece of bamboo five cubits long. For one rupee they dig a patch 8 _dangris_ long by one broad and a cubit in depth, or 675 cubic feet. But this rate does not allow for lift or lead.

_Bazigar_.--(An acrobat.) Synonym of Nat.

_Behar_.--(Cat.) A totemistic sept of Kawar.

_Behera_.--A subcaste of Taonla. A section of Tiyar. A t.i.tle of Khadal.

_Belwar, Bilwar_.--A small caste of carriers and cattle-dealers belonging to Oudh, whose members occasionally visit the northern Districts of the Central Provinces. They say that their ancestors were Sanadhya Brahmans, who employed bullocks as pack-animals, and hence, being looked down on by the rest of the caste, became a separate body, marrying among themselves.

_Benaika, Binaika_.--A subcaste of Parwar Bania, consisting of the offspring of remarried widows or illegitimate unions. Probably also found among other subcastes of Bania.

_Benatia_.--A subcaste of Sansia in Sambalpur.