The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Part 53

_Patwa_.--A caste. See article. In Seoni tahsil of Hoshangabad District Patwa and Lakhera appear to be synonymous terms. A section of Oswal Bania.

_Patwari_.--(Name of the village accountant and surveyor, who is now a salaried Government official.) The Kayasth caste were formerly patwaris by profession. See article.

_Patwi_.--(A dyer who colours the silk thread which weavers use to border their cotton cloth.) Synonym of Patwa. Subcaste of Koshti. From _pata_, a woven cloth.

_Pawanbans_.--(The children of the wind.) Synonym for Bhuiya.

_Pendhari_.--Synonym of Pindari.

_Peng_.--Subcaste of Parja.

_Penthi_.--(Sheep.) A totemistic sept of Bhulia.

_Periki_, _Perki_, _Perka_.--The Perikis are really a subcaste of the great Balija or Balji caste, but they have a lower position and are considered as a distinct group. About 4000 Perikis were returned in the Central Provinces in 1911 from the Nagpur, Wardha and Chanda Districts. They derive their names from the _perike_ or panniers in which they carried salt and grain on bullocks and donkeys. They were thus formerly a nomadic group, and like the Banjaras and Bhamtas they also made gunny-bags and sacking. Most of them have now taken to cultivation, and in Madras some Perikis have become large landholders and claim Rajput rank. In the Central Provinces the Balijas and Naidus deny that the Perikis have any connection with the Balija caste.

_Peta_.--(A trading Balija.) Subcaste of Balija.

_Phal Barhai_.--(A carpenter who only works on one side of the wood.) Synonym for Chitari in the Uriya country.

_Phanse_.--(A Pardhi who hunts with traps and snares.) Subcaste of Pardhi.

_Phansigar_.--(A strangler.) Synonym of Thug.

_Pharsi_.--(Axe.) A section of Uriya, Ahir or Gahara.

_Phopatia_.--t.i.tle of the officer of the Andh caste who summons the caste committee.

_Phulia_, _Phulmali_.--(A flower-gardener.) Subcaste of Kachhi and Mali.

_Phuljharia_.--(From Phuljhar zamindari in Raipur.) A territorial subcaste of Ahir or Rawat, Ghasia and Panka.

_Phul Kunwar_.--A section of Kawar. They use the _akre_ or swallow-wort flower for their marriage-crown.

_Phulsunga_.--A totemistic section of Gadaria. They abstain from smelling or touching a flower called _gadha_.

_Phurasti_.--(A wanderer.) Subcaste of Kaikari.

_Pindara_.--Synonym of Pindari.

_Pindari_.--A caste. Subcaste of Mang.

_Pinjara_.--(One who cards cotton.) Synonym of Bahna.

_Pipar_.--(A tree.) A section of Khatik and Kalar.

_Pipariya_.--(From the pipal tree, or from Piparia, a common place-name derived from the tree.) A clan of Rajputs in Saugor. A section of Sunars in Saugor.

_Piria_.--Subcaste of Kachhi. From _piria_, the basket in which they carry earth.

_Pit_.--Subcaste of Bhatra.

_Pitariya_.--(From _pital_, bra.s.s.) A subdivision of Pardeshi Sunars in Nagpur. They practise hypergamy, taking wives from the Sadihe subcaste, and giving daughters to the Srinagariye, Bangar, Mahuwe and Jadiye subcastes.

_Pohni_.--Subcaste of Jhadi Telenga.

_Poiya_,--Subcaste of Majhwar.

_Polya_.--(One who did not take off his turban at the feast.) t.i.tle of Hatkar.

_Pondro_.--(A tree.) One of the six subsepts of the Marai clan of Pathari Gonds in Khairagarh.

_Ponwar_.--Synonym of Panwar Rajput.

_Portai_.--(Basket.) A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul. They do not kill the tiger or crocodile. A sept of Dhur Gonds.

_Potdar_.--(A money-tester.) Synonym and t.i.tle of Sunar. A surname of Karhara Brahmans in Saugor.

_Potdukh_.--(Stomach-ache.) A section of Teli in Chanda.

_Potharia_.--(One to whom a certain dirty habit is imputed.) Subcaste of Korku.

_Potwa_.--(A worker in tasar silk.) Synonym for Darzi; a subcaste of Darzi.

_Poyam_.--(Worshipper of eight G.o.ds.) A sept of Pardhan and of Maria Gonds.

_Praj.a.pati_.--t.i.tle of k.u.mhar.

_Pramara_.--Synonym for Panwar Rajput.

_Prannathi_.--A follower of Prannath of Panna. Synonym for Dhami.

_Pravar_.--A term for the ancestors sharing in a sacrificial invocation, particularly that of the Horn or fire-sacrifice.

_Prayagwal_.--(From Prayag-Allahabad.) A subcaste of Brahmans who preside at the ceremonial bathing in the Ganges at Allahabad.

_Puar_.--Synonym of Panwar Rajput.

_Pujari_.--(A worshipper.) Name for the priest in charge of a temple. A t.i.tle of Bhatra.

_Purad_.--A small mixed caste in Nagpur. They say that their ancestor was a Brahman, who was crossing a river and lost his sacred thread, on being carried down in a flood (_pur_). Therefore he was put out of caste because the sacred thread must be changed before swallowing the spittle, and he had no other thread ready. At the census the Purads were amalgamated with Vidurs. They are shopkeepers by profession.

_Purait_.--(One who is of pure blood.) A subdivision of Jharia Rawat (Ahir) in Chhattisgarh. A subcaste of Dhakar, Halba and Marar.

_Purania_.--(Old.) A subcaste of Kachera or Sisgar in Saugor. The Puranias are the Muhammadan bangle-makers who originally practised this calling. A subcaste of Barai, Basor, Nai and Sunar. A section of Chamar and Darzi.

_Purbia_.--This term, which means eastern or coming from the east, is used in Hoshangabad and other Districts to designate Rajputs from Oudh and the adjoining tracts, especially retired sepoys from the Bengal army. They appear to belong to different clans, but many of them are Bais Rajputs. Some of the Purbias say that their king, somewhere in northern India, heard that cows were being killed in the Central Provinces, so he sent them to stop the practice and they came and stopped it and settled there. In Gujarat this name appears to be applied to Brahmans. A subcaste of Barhai and Gadaria. A section of Nat and Sunar.

_Purkam_.--(_Purka_-pumpkin.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul.