The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Part 32

_Dandsena_.--(One who carries a stick.) Subcaste of Kalar.

_Dang-charha._--(A rope-climber.) Synonym of Nut.

_Dangiwara_.--Name of part of the Saugor District, which is called after the Dangi caste. Subcaste of Kadera.

_Dangua_.--(A hill-dweller.) Subcaste of Taonla.

_Dangur_.--A small caste of hemp weavers numbering about 100 persons, and residing almost entirely in the village of Masod in Betul District. They are of the same standing as the caste of k.u.mrawat 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 Rajputs, while their families are known by such high-sounding t.i.tles as Rathor, Chauhan, Gaur, Solanki and other well-known Rajput names. These pretensions have no foundation in fact, and the Dangurs 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 Purania Sunars in Saugor.

_Daraihan_.--A small caste of debased Rajputs found in the Bilaspur District of Chhattisgarh and numbering some 2000 persons in 1901. They say that their ancestors were Rajputs from Upper India who settled in Chhattisgarh some generations back in the village of Dargaon in Raipur District. Thence they were given the name of Dargaihan, which has been corrupted into Daraihan. Others say that the name is derived from _dari_, a prost.i.tute, but this is perhaps a libel. In any case they do not care about the name Daraihan and prefer to call themselves Kshatriyas. They have now no connection with the Rajputs 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 Chhattisgarh, which is derived from the Daharia clan of Rajputs. [438]

Like other Rajputs the Daraihans have an elaborate system of septs and subsepts, the former having the names of Rajput clans, while the latter are taken from the eponymous _gotras_ of the Brahmans. There are fourteen septs, named as a rule after the princ.i.p.al Rajput clans, of whom four, the Chandel, Kachhwaha, Dhandhul and Sakrawara, 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 Brahmanical _gotras_, as Kausilya, Bharadwaj, 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 Gunravat 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 Rajput ancestry may still be recognised. They wear the sacred thread. The Daraihans 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.

_Darbania_.--(Door-keeper.) t.i.tle of Khangur.

_Darshani_.--t.i.tle of the most holy members of the Kanphata Jogis.

_Darshni_.--(From _darshan_, seeing, beholding, as of a G.o.d.) A sub-division of Jogi.

_Darwan_.--(A door-keeper.) t.i.tle of Dahait.

_Darwe_ or _Dalwe_.--A subcaste of Gonds in Chanda; the Darwes are also called Naik.

_Darwesh_.--Persian name for a Muhammadan Fakir or religious mendicant.

_Darzi_.--A caste of tailors. Subcaste of Ghasia.

_Das_.--(Servant.) Used as the termination of their names by Bairagis or religious mendicants. A term applied by Pankas and other Kabirpanthis to themselves.

_Dasa_.--(Ten.) A subdivision of Agarwala and other subcastes of Bania, meaning those of pure blood.

_Dasghar_.--(Ten houses.) One of the three subdivisions of Kanaujia Brahmans. They give their daughters to members of the Chheghar or six houses and receive them from the Panchghar or five houses.

_Dasnami_.--A member of the ten orders. Synonym for Gosain.

_Datta_ or _Dutt_.--Surname of Bengali Kayasths.

_Daune_.--A subdivision of Prabhu or Parbhu in Nagpur, so called on account of their living in the island of Diu, a Portuguese possession.

_Deccani_.--See Dakhne.

_Dehalwi_.--(From Delhi.) A subdivision of Gaur Kayasths.

_Dehri_.--(A worshipper.) Subcaste of Sudh.

_Dekkala_.--(A genealogist.) Subcaste of Madgi.

_Delki_.--Subcaste of Kharia.

_Deo_.--(G.o.d.) A hereditary t.i.tle borne by certain Feudatory Chiefs. A surname of Karhara Brahmans in Saugor. A subcaste of Gandli in Chanda.

_Deobansi_.--(A descendant of a G.o.d.) Subcaste of Patwa.

_Deogarhia_ or _Rajkunwar_.--(From Deogarh.) A subcaste of Pardhan. A subcaste of Audhelia made up of prost.i.tutes. A sept of Dhimar.

_Deokia_.--t.i.tle used in the Bedar caste.

_Deoputra_.--(Son of G.o.d.) Synonym of Charan.

_Desa_ or _Kota_.--Subcaste of Balija.

_Desai_.--A variant for Deshmukh or a Maratha revenue officer. t.i.tle of the Pardhan caste.

_Desawal_.--A subdivision of Brahman in Jubbulpore. They take their name from Disa, a town in Palanpur State in Bombay Presidency.

_Desha, Desaha_.--(Belonging to the home country.) The name is usually applied to immigrants from Malwa or Hindustan. A subcaste of Ahir, Bargah, Bari, Chamar, Dhuri, Gadaria, Kalar, Kol, Kurmi, Lakhera, Lohar, Mahar, Sunar and Teli.

_Deshastha_.--A subcaste of Maratha Brahmans inhabiting the country (Desh) above the Western Ghats. A subcaste of Gurao.

_Deshkar_.--(One belonging to the country.) A subcaste of Gondhali, Gurao, Kasar, Koshti, Kunbi, Mahar, Mali, Maratha, Nai, Sunar and Teli.

_Deshmukh_.--Under Maratha rule the Deshmukh was a Pargana officer who collected the revenue of the Pargana or small subdivision, and other taxes, receiving a certain share. The office of Deshmukh was generally held by a leading Kunbi of the neighbourhood. He also held revenue-free land in virtue of his position. The Deshmukh families now tend to form a separate subcaste of Kunbis and marry among themselves.

_Deshpande_.--The Deshpande was the Pargana accountant. He was generally a Brahman and the right-hand man of the Deshmukh, and having the advantage of education he became powerful like the Deshmukh. Now used as a surname by Maratha Brahmans.

_Deswali_.--Synonym for Mina.

_Devadasi_.--(Handmaidens of the G.o.ds.) Synonym for Kasbi.

_Devarukhe_.--A subdivision of Maratha Brahmans. The word is derived from Devarishi, a Shakha (branch) of the Atharva Veda, or from Devarukh, a town in Ratnagiri District of Bombay Presidency. Among Brahmans they hold rather a low position.

_Dew.a.n.gan_.--(From the old town of this name on the Wardha river.) Subcaste of Koshti.

_Dhaighar_.--(2 1/2 houses.) A subcaste of Khatri.

_Dhakan_.--(A witch.) Subcaste of Bhat.

_Dhakar_.--Name of a caste in Bastar. A clan of Rajputs. A subcase of Barai, Bania and Kirar. A sept of Halba.

_Dhalgar_.--A small occupational caste who made leather shields, and are now almost extinct as the use of shields has gone out of fashion. They are Muhammadans, but Mr. Crooke [439] considers them to be allied to the Dabgars, who make leather vessels for holding oil and _ghi_ and are also known as Kuppesaz. The Dabgars are a Hindu caste whose place in the Central Provinces is taken by the Budalgir Chamars. These receive their designation from _budla_, the name of the leather bag which they make. _Budlas_ were formerly employed for holding _ghi_ or melted b.u.t.ter, oil and the liquid extract of sugarcane, but vegetable oil is now generally carried in earthen vessels slung in baskets, and _ghi_ in empty kerosene tins. Small bottles of very thin leather are still used by scent-sellers for holding their scents, though they also have gla.s.s bottles. The song of the Leather Bottel recalls the fact that vessels for holding liquids were made of leather in Europe prior to the introduction of gla.s.s. The Dhalgars also made targets for archery practice from the hides of buffaloes; and the similar use of the hides of cattle in Europe survives in our phrase of the bull's eye for the centre of the target.

_Dhamonia_.--(From Dhamoni, a town in Saugor.) A subcaste of Sonkar. A territorial sept of Darzi and Dhobi.

_Dhanak Sammani_.--(One who reverences the bow.) A section of Barai.

_Dhandere_.--(Probably from Dhundhar, an old name of Jaipur or Amber State.) A sept of Rajputs.