Punjab: The Minor Agricultural and Pastoral Tribes
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
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Minor Agricultural and Pastoral Tribes
The group of castes for which the figures are given in Abstract No. 85 on page 266t are not tP. 190 separated from the castes and tribes already discussed by any clearly defined • line. Indeed it is quite a matter of opinion whether some of these should not have been ranked with the major and some of those with the minor tribes. But the group now to be discussed very generally hold an inferior position among the agricultural community^ and seldom if ever occupy the position of the dominant tribe in any considerable tract of countrv. They may be divided into three classes, though here again the lines of the demareation are indistinct. The first consists of the market gardeners proper or growers of vegetables, and includes the Mali, Saini, Arain, and Baghban, all four of whom are probably closely connected, and some of them almost undistinguish able. The cultivation of vegetables is looked upon as degrading by the agri cultural classes, why I know not, unless it be that nightsoil is generally used for their fertilisation ; and a Rajput would say : What 1 Do you take me for an Arain ? if anything was proposed which he considered derogatory. The second class comprises the Kanet and Ghirath, the low-class cultivators of the hills, and the Kamboh, Ahir, Mahtam, and other cultivators of inferior status. Some of these are closely allied to the vegetable-growers ; others again to the Ghosi and Gaddi which constitute the third class, and are pastoral rather than agricultural. The class as a whole is to be found in largest number in the fertile districts of the eastern plains and sub montane tract, and in the hills where the proud Rajputs look upon labour at the plough as degrading. It is least numerous in the Derajat where the comprehensive name of Jat embraces all cultivators of this class.
The Reya
Caste No. 147
Having thus disposed of the two great inferior cultivating caytes of the hills; I shall take the others as far as possible in order of locality from east to west. The Reyas are a small Hindu caste found only in the Dehli district. They say they were Rajputs but were excluded from the caste because they took to practising widow-marriage. They are now quite separate. They eat and smoke with Jats and agricultural castes of similar standing, jjut will not marry them except by karewa. They own nine villages in behli, and the names of their clans are soinetinies Rajput and sometimes not. They trace their origin from Mahrauli where the Qutb pillar stands.
The Lodha and Kachhi
Caste Nos. 105 and 142
These are two well-known cultivating castes of Hindustan, and are found in the Panjub chiefly in the Jamna districts, though a few of them have moved on westwards to the great cantonments. They are almost without exception Hindus. The Lodhas are said to be numerous In Hushangabad, and to be distinct from the Lodhi outcasts of Central India; but the LodhaS of Dehli would appear to be 'A very low social standing. It is said that there are two distinct castes of Lodnas, one spelled with the hard and the other with the soft d, and Tierhaps this may account for f he apparent confusion. The Amijala Lodhas cultivate hemp largely, and work it up into rope. The Kachhis are said to be the market gardeners of Hindustan and of low standing. In the Paujab 1 believe they are generally engaged in the cultivation of water-nuts and similar produce ; indeed in many parts they are called Sing-hnri (from Singhcira, a water-nut) as commonly as Kachhi.
The Sarrara
Caste No. 118
It is perhaps probable that these men are the same as those discussed under the head Sarera ■' in the section on Hill Menials. But I have separated them, as their identity is not at all certain. The Sarraras which are found in Hazara belong to a race inhabiting Chibhal, or the hill country of Kashmir on the Hazara border, and according to Major Waco belong to the same ethnic group as the Dhund, Satti, and Kharral of the same tract. It might perhaps have been better to take them with the Kharrals. They are chiefly found in the Abbottabad tahsil, where they are purely agricultural. They are all Musalman.
The Ghosi
Caste No. 125
The Ghosi is I believe an Ahir tribe; but in the Panjab the name is only used for Musalmans, and is often applied to any cowherd or milkman of that religion, whether Gujar, Ahir, or of any other caste, just as Gwala is used for a Hindu cowherd. The Ghosi proper is only found in the eastern districts, though a few have strayed into the large cantonments to the west. But the 235 persons shown as Ghosi in the Rawal pindi division are, according to my papers, entered as Ghasiara or '* grass-cutter,^'
while the 337 of the Multan division are shown as Her, probably for Ahir. How these came to be classed as Ghosi I cannot explain. It was not done by my orders. It is said that Hindus will buy pure milk from the Musalman Ghosi, but will reject it if there is any suspicion of its having been watered by the latter, as they must not drink water at his hands ! The Ghosis are a purely pastoral caste, at any rate in the Panjab. They are however sometimes butchers.
