Jat- Jogi

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This article is an extract from

THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. By H.H. RISLEY, INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE, OFFICIER D'ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE. Ethnographic Glossary. CALCUTTA: Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. .

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Jat- Jogi

This class of Hindustani vagrants, also called Madari, Tubri-walas, Sanya, who play on pipes2 and exhibit tame snakes, frequently visit Dacca after attending the two annual festivals of Gorakhnath, near Gorakhpur. They wander over the country, subsisting as snake charmers, and by capturing wild ones, but scandalising the people by their intemperate and filthy habits. They wear shell bead necklaces, massive brass earrings, called "Gorakhnath ka mundra,"3 and long untrimmed beards. Their homes are in the Mirat or Delhi districts, where they are known as Jat-Jogi. Being usually married, their wives occasionally assist at the snake-charming exhibitions. Tall, fine-looking men they often are, but their garments are always dirty and habits most dissolute. The police are constantly on the watch when the band is on the move, as thefts, and even murders, are attributed to them.