The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Part 51

_Odhia_.--Synonym for Audhia Bania.

_Odia_ or _Uriya_.--Subcaste of Beldar in Chhattisgarh.

_Oiku_.--Subtribe of Majhwar.

_Ojha_.--(From _Ojh_, entrails.) A caste of Gond augurs, see article. A t.i.tle of Maithil Brahmans. A subcaste of Lohar, Nat and Savar.

_Okkilyan_.--Synonym of Wakkaliga.

_Omre_, _Umre_.--A subcaste of Bania. See Bania Umre.--A subcaste of Teli.

_Onkar Nath_.--A subdivision of Jogis.

_Onkule_.--Subcaste of Koshti.

_Orha_.--Subcaste of Chasa.

_Oswal_.--A subcaste of Bania. See subordinate article to Bania.

_Ota_.--(One who recites the Vedas aloud in sacrifices.) An honorific t.i.tle of Uriya Brahmans.

_Otari, Watkari_.--A low caste of workers in bra.s.s in the Maratha country. The name is derived from the Marathi verb _otne_, to pour or smelt. They number about 2600 persons in the Bhandara and Chanda Districts, and in Berar. The caste have two subcastes, Gondadya and Maratha, or the Gond and Maratha Otaris. The latter are no doubt members of other castes who have taken to bra.s.s-working. Members of the two subcastes do not eat with each other. Their family names are of different kinds, and some of them are totemistic. They employ Brahmans for their ceremonies, and otherwise their customs are like those of the lower artisan castes. But it is reported that they have a survival of marriage by capture, and if a man refuses to give his daughter in marriage after being asked twice or thrice, they abduct the girl and afterwards pay some compensation to the father. They make and sell ornaments of bra.s.s and bell-metal, such as are worn by the lower castes, and travel from village to village, hawking their toe-rings and anklets. There is also an Otari subcaste of Kasars.

_Pabaiya_.--(From Pabai in Bundelkhand.) A clan of Rajputs in Hoshangabad.

_Pabia_.--A small caste in the zamindaris of the Bilaspur District, and some of the Feudatory States, who numbered about 9000 persons in 1911. They appear to be Pans or Gandas, who also bear the name of Pab, and this has been corrupted into Pabia, perhaps with a view to hiding their origin. They are wretchedly poor and ignorant. They say that they have never been to a Government dispensary, and would be afraid that medicine obtained from it would kill them. Their only remedies for diseases are branding the part affected or calling in a magician. They never send their children to school, as they hold that educated children are of no value to their parents, and that the object of Government in opening schools is only to obtain literate persons to carry on its business. One curious custom may be noticed. When any one dies in a family, all the members, as soon as the breath leaves his body, go into another room of the house; and across the door they lay a net opened into the room where the corpse lies. They think that the spirit of the dead man will follow them, and will be caught in the net. Then the net is carried away and burnt or buried with the corpse, and thus they think that the spirit is removed and prevented from remaining about the house and troubling the survivors.

_Pabeha_.--Synonym for Dhimar.

_Pabudia_ or _Madhai_.--A subcaste of Bhuiya.

_Pachadhe_.--(Western.)--A subdivision of Saraswat Brahman.

_Pachbhaiya_.--(Five Brothers.) A section of Ahir and Audhelia.

_Pada_.--(A pig-eater.) A section of Muria Gonds and Pardhans.

_Padhan_.--(An Uriya name for a chief or headman of a village.) A section of Bhuiya, Chasa, Dumal, Hatwa, Kolta, Tiyar and other Uriya castes. A t.i.tle of Chasa and Kolta.

_Padmasale_.--Subcaste of Koshti.

_Padyal_.--A subtribe of Gond in Chanda. A section of Marori.

_Pahalwan_.--A small community numbering about 600 persons in the Bilaspur District and surrounding tracts of Chhattisgarh. The word Pahalwan means a wrestler, but Sir B. Robertson states [477] that they are a small caste of singing beggars and have no connection with wrestling. They appear, however, to belong to the Gopal caste, who have a branch of Pahalwans in their community. And the men returned from Bilaspur may have abandoned wrestling in favour of singing and begging from trees, which is also a calling of the Gopals. They themselves say that their ancestors were Gopals and lived somewhere towards Berar, and that they came to Bilaspur with the Maratha leader Chimnaji Bhonsla.

_Pahar_.--Subcaste of Mahli.

_Paharia_ or _Benwaria_.--Subcaste of Korwa.

_Paik_.--(A foot-soldier.) See Rajput-Paik.

_Paikaha_.--(One who follows the calling of curing hides.) Synonym for Chamar.

_Paikara_.--(From Paik, a foot-soldier.) Subcaste of Kawar.

_Pailagia_.--(Pailagi or 'I fall at your feet,' is a common term of greeting from an inferior to a superior.) Subcaste of Dahait.

_Paiyam_.--(From _paiya_, a calf.) A sept of Gonds in Betul.

_Pajania_.--(_Paijana_, tinkling anklets.) A section of Kurmi.

_Pakhali_.--(From _pakhali_, a leathern water-bag.) Synonym of Bhishti.

_Pakhawaji_.--(One who plays on the _pakhawaj_ or timbrel.) t.i.tle of Mirasi.

_Pakhia_.--(They are so called because they eat the flesh of the _por_ or buffalo.) Subcaste of Khond.

_Palas._--(From the _palas_ tree, _Butea frondosa_.) A totemistic sept of Gonds.

_Palewar_.--A _gotra_ of Binjhwar; a subcaste of Dhimar found in the Telugu country. They are also called Bhoi in Chanda. A name for Telugu Dhimars or watermen. A section of Binjhwar.

_Palgaria_.--(Sleeping on a _palang_ or cot.) A sept of Bhunjia.

_Palliwal_.--A subcaste of Brahmans belonging to the Kanaujia division. They take their name from Pali, a trading town of Marwar. A subcaste of Bania, whose name is derived from the same place.

_Palsa-gacha_.--(_Palas_ tree, _Butea frondosa_.) A totemistic sept of Pans.

_Palshe_.--A subcaste of Maratha Brahmans. They derive their name from Palsaoli village in Kalyan (Bombay Presidency).

_Pampatra_.--(Those who use their hands as pots.) A section of Khandwal.

_Pan_.--(Name of a forest tribe.) Synonym for Ganda.

_Panch, Panchayat_.--(A caste committee, so called because it is supposed to consist of five (_panch_) persons.) A section of Marar.

_Panchal_.--An indeterminate group of artisans engaged in any of the following five trades: Workers in iron, known as Manu; workers in copper or bra.s.s called Twashtik; workers in stone or Shilpik; workers in wood or Maya; and workers in gold and silver designated as Daivagnya. [478] The caste appear to be of Telugu origin, and in Madras they are also known as Kammala. In the Central Provinces they were amalgamated with the Sunars in 1901, but in 1891 a total of 7000 were returned, belonging to the southern Districts; while 2700 members of the caste are shown in Berar. The name is variously derived, but the princ.i.p.al root is no doubt _panch_ or five. Captain Glasfurd writes it Panchyanun. [479] In the Central Provinces the Panchals appear generally to work in gold or bra.s.s, while in Berar they are blacksmiths. The gold-workers are an intelligent and fairly prosperous cla.s.s, and devote themselves to engraving, inlaying, and making gold beads. They are usually hired by Sunars and paid by the piece. [480]

They are intent on improving their social position and now claim to be Vishwa Brahmans, presumably in virtue of their descent from Viswa Karma, the celestial architect. At the census they submitted a pet.i.tion begging to be cla.s.sified as Brahmans, and to support their claim they employ members of their own caste to serve them as priests. But the majority of them permit the remarriage of widows, and do not wear the sacred thread. In other respects their customs resemble those of the Sunars. The Berar Panchals, on the other hand, appear to be a much lower group. Mr. Kitts describes [481] them as a "wandering caste of smiths living in gra.s.s-mat huts and using as fuel the roots of thorn bushes, which they batter out of the ground with the back of a short-handled axe peculiar to themselves. The Berari Panchals," he continues, "who differ from the Dakhani division in the custom of shaving their heads and beards on the death of a parent, have been in the Provinces for some generations. They live in small _pals_ or tents, and move from place to place with buffaloes, donkeys, and occasionally ponies to carry their kit. The women of the Berari division may be distinguished from those of the Dakhani Panchals by their wearing their _lugras_ or body-cloths tucked in at the back, in the fashion known as _kasote_." It is no doubt from the desire to dissociate themselves from the wandering blacksmiths of Berar that the Panchals of the Central Provinces desire to drop their caste name.

_Pancham_.--A subcaste of Bania. A subcaste of Barai, the same as Beraria.

_Panchbhai_.--(Five brothers.) A surname of Bhanara Dhimars, a section of Ghasia.

_Panchdeve_.--A subdivision of Gonds, worshipping five G.o.ds and paying special reverence to the _saras_ crane.

_Panch Dravid_.--One of the two primary divisions of Brahmans, inhabiting the country south of the Vindhya hills and Nerbudda river, and including the following five orders: viz., Karnata (Carnatic), Dravid (Madras), Tailanga (Telugu country), Maharashtra (Bombay) and Gurjara (Gujarat).

_Panch Gaur_.--One of the two primary divisions of Brahmans inhabiting the country north of the Vindhya hills and Nerbudda river; it includes the following five orders: Saraswat (Punjab), Kanaujia (Hindustan), Gaur (Bengal), Utkal (Orissa) and Maithil (Bihar or Tirhut).