Vagrant and Criminal (so-called ) Tribes of the Punjab, 1883
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. Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees |
Note: Indpaedia has added '(so-called)' in the title because it does not agree with the words Vagrant and Criminal.
The Wandering and crimmal tribes
The figures for the wander ing and criminal tribes are given in Abstract No. 96 on page 309.This group and that of the gipsy tribes which I shall discuss next are so much akin that it is impossible to draw any definite line of demareation. I have attempt ed to include in the former the vagrant, criminal, and hunting- tribes, and in the latter those who earn their living by singing, dancing, tumbling-, and various kinds of performances. The two together form an exceedingly interesting section of the population, but one regarding which I have been able to obtain singularly little information. They are specially interesting, not only because almost every tribe included in these two groups is probably aboriginal in its ultimate origin, for so much could be said, I believe, of some even of our Jat tribes ; but also because they have in a special decree retained their aboriginal customs and beliefs and in fact are at the present moment the Panjab represeutatives of the indigenous inhabitants of the Province A complete record of their manners and custom;; would probably throw much light upon the ethnology of the Panjab, as it would enable us to discriminate aboriginal from Aryan customs, and thus assist us in determining the stock to which each of those many castes whose origin is so doubtful should be referred.
The tribes under discussion are for the most part outcasts, chiefly because they feed on the fox, jackal, lizard, tortoise, and such like unclean animals. They are, like the scavengers, hereditary workers in grass, straw, reeds, and the like. Many of them appear to use a speech peculiar to themselves, regarding which Dr. Leitner has collected some information, while a sort of glossary has been published ly the darogha of the Lahore Central Jail. In some cases this speech appears to be a true language or dialect peculiar to the tribe ; in others to be a mere argot consisting of the language current in the locality, thinly disguised, but sufficiently so to render it unintelligible to the ordinary listener.
A copious glossary of the Ritmasi or lingua franca of the thieving classes is said to have been published in 1855 as Volume I of The Selections from the Records of the Agra Govern ment.Much information regarding the criminal tribes may be gleaned from the published reports of the Thuggee and Dacoity Department, and especially from Colonel Sleeman's report published in 1849. The wander ing tribes included in the group now under discussion have been divided into three classes. The first, including the Ods, the Beldars and the Changars are those who have a fixed occupation, though no fixed dwelling-place. The last, which comprises the Minas and the Harnis, are not hunters, and are rather criminal than wandering, the families at least usually having fixed abodes, though the men travel about in seareh of opportunities for theft.
The middle group, consisting of the Bawaria, the Aheri, the Thori, the Sansi, the Pakhiwara, the Jhabel, the Kehal, and the Gagra, are hunters and fishermen living a more or less vagrant life in the jungles and on the river banks ; and often, though by no means always, addicted to crime. The distribution of each tribe is noted under its separate head ; but the action of the Criminal Tribes Act, which is enforced against a given tribe in some districts but not in others, has probably modified their distribution by inducing them to move from the former to the latter class of the districts. At the end of this section I notice various castes of criminal habits who either have not been dis tinguished in our tables, or have been treated of elsewhere.
The Od and Beldar
(Caste Nos. 85 and 129)
These two sets of figures should probably be taken together, as they appear to refer to the same caste. Indeed in several of The divisional offices the two terms have been treated as synonymous. Beldar is properly the name of an occupation merely ; it is derived from bel a mattock, and it denotes all whose calling it is to work with that instrument. But though the common coolie of the Province will often turn his hand to digging, the Od is the professional navvy of the Panjab ; and the word Beldar is seldom applied, at least as a tribal name, to the members of any other caste, though it seems in more common use in the west than in the east, the Od of the west being generally known as Beldar '.
^ Mr. Christie, liowever, assures me that there are large communities of professional Beldars who are not Ods. They are generally Mnsahmin m the Panjab proper and Hindu in the eastern districts ; they are not outcasts, have fixed habilations, iuid work as carriers with theu- animals when earth-work is not forthcoming. It may he that The Musahnans returned in our tables belong to this class; as Od and Beldar have been confused.
The Od or Odh is a wandering' tribe whose proper home appears to he Western Hindustan and Rajputana ; at least the Ods of the Pan jab usually hail from those parts. They are vagrants, wandering- about with their families in seareh of employment on earthwork. They Will not as a rule take petty jobs, but prefer small contracts on roads, canals, railways, and the like, or will build a house of adobe, and dig' a tank, or even a well.
They settle down in temporary reed huts on the edge of the work ; the men dig, the women carry the earth to the donkeys which they always have with them, and the children drive the donkeys to the spoilbank. In the Salt-range Tract they also quarry and carry stone ; and in parts of the North- West Provinces they are said to be wandering pedlars. They eat anything and everything, and though not unfrequently Musalmans, especially in the west, are always outcast. They have a speech of their own called Odki of which I know nothing, but wluch is very probably nothing more than the ordinary dialect of their place of origin. They wear woollen clothes, or at least one wollen garment. They claim descent from one Bliagirat who vowed never to drink twice out of the same well, and so dug a fresh one every day till one day he dug down and down and never came up again.
It is in mourning for him that they wear wool, and in imitation of him they bury their dead even when Hindu, though they marry by the Hindu ceremony. Till the re-appearance of Bhagfrat they will, they say, remain outcasts. They are said to claim Rajput or Kshatriya origin and to come from Marwar. They worship Rama and Siva of. Pushkarna Brahmans. Wilson's Indian Cade, Vol. U, pp. 114, 139, 169). They are, for a vagrant tribe, singularly free from all imputation of crime. They are distributed pretty generally throughout the Province, but are most numerous in Lahore and along the lower Indus and Chanab, and least numerous in the hills and sub montane districts.
The Changar
(Caste No. 64)
The Changars are outcasts of pro bably aboriginal descent, who are most numerous in the Amritsar division, Lahore, Firozepur, and Faridkot, but especially in Sialkot ; and they say that their ancestors came from the Jammu hills. They are originally a vagrant tribe who wander about in seareh of work ; but in the neighbourhood of large cities they are to be found in settled colonies. They will do almost any sort of work, but are largely employed in agriculture, particularly as reapers ; while their women are very generally employed in sifting and cleaning grain for the graindealers. They are all Musalmans and marry by nikdh and they say that they were converted by Shams Tabriz of Multan.
Their women still wear petticoats and not drawers ; but these are blue, not red. They are exceedingly industrious, and not at all given to crime. They have a dialect of their own regarding which, and indeed regarding the tribe generally, Dr. Leitner has published some very interesting information. He says that they call themselves not Changar but Chubna, and suggests that Changar is derived from chhanna to sift. It has been suggested that Changar is another form of Zingari ; but Dr. Leitner does not support the sug gestion.
The Bawaria
(Caste No. 71)
The Bawarias are a hunting tribe who take their name from the hdwar or noose with which they snare wild animals.' The Mahtams hunt with similar nooses ; but theiri are made of munj rope, while the Bawaria nooses are made of leather. They set long lines of these nooses in the grass across the jungles ; from this line they arrange two rows of scarecrows consisting of bits of rag and the like tied on to the trees and grass ; they then drive the jungle, and the fright ened deer and other animals, keeping between the lines of scarecrows, cross the line of nooses in which their feet become entangled. In addition to hunting they niahe articles of grass and straw and reeils and sell them to the villagers. The Bawarias are a vagrant tribe whose proper home appears to be Mewar, Ajmer, and Jodhpur ; in the Paujub they are chiefly fonnd along the middle Satluj valley in Sirsa. Firozpur, Faudkot, Lahore, and Patiala, though they occur in smaller numbers in Hissar, Rohtak, and Gurgaon, all on the Rajputana border. They are black in colour and of poor physique.
But though they are primarily vagrants, they have settled down in some parts, and especially in the Firozpur District are largely employed as field labourers and even cultivate land as tenants. Their skill in tracking also is notorious. They are by no means always, or indeed generally criminal, in this Province at least ; and in Lahore and Sirsa seem to be sufficiently in offensive.
But in many parts of the Panjab, and generally I believe in Rajputana, they are much addicted to crime. I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. MacCraeken, Personal Assistant to the Inspector- General of Police, for the figures of Abstract No. 97 on page 312,* which shows the number of each criminal caste registered under the Criminal Tribes Act in each district of the Panjab. From these figures it appears that the Bawarias are registered as professional criminals only in Firozpur and Ludhiana, and that in the former district only a small portion of the caste is so registered.
Even where they are criminal they usually confine themselves to petty theft, seldom em ploying violence. About one-tenth of them are returned as Sikhs, I Ait hardly any as Musahnans. They eat all wild animals, including the pig and the lizard, and most of them will eat carrion. But it is said that the ordinary Bruhman officiates at their weddings, so that they can hardly be called outcast. They, like most thieving classes, worship Devi, and sacrifice to her goats and buffaloes with the blood of which they mark their foreheads; and they rever ence the cow, wear the clioti, burn their dead, and send the ashes to the Ganges. It is said that the criminal section of the tribe will admit men of other castes to their fraternity on payment.
They have a language of their own which is spoken by the women and children as well as by the men. They are said to be divided into three sections : the Bidawati of Bikaner who trace their origin to Bidawar in Jaipur, do not eat carrion, disdain petty theft but delight in crimes of violence, will not steal cows or oxen, and affect a superiority over The rest ; the -Tangali or Kulkamalia' generally found in the Jangaldes of the Sikh States, Firozpur, and Sirsa, and whose women wear black blankets; and the Kaparia who are most numerous in the neighbourhood of Dehli, and are notoriously a criminal tribe. The three sections neither eat toget her nor intermarry. The Kalkamalia is the only section which are still hunters by profession, the other sections looking down upon that calling. The Kaparia are for the most part vagrant ; while the Bidawati live generally in fixed abodes.
The Aheri and Thori
(Caste Nos. 91 and 100) It appears almost certain that, so far as the plains of the Panjab are concerned, these two sets of figures refer to the same caste and should be taken together. In the hills the Also called Kaldhaballia, from dhalla a skirt., the blanket forming a petticoat. men who carry merchandise on pack animals are known as Thoris ; and it is probable that the Thoris returned for the Hill States are nothing more than persons who follow this occupation; for it is improbable that the Aheri of Raj putana should be found in the Simla hills^ and the word seems to be applied to anybody who carries on beasts of burden without regard to caste. Still, the Thoris do seem to have a connection with the Banjaras. They are said by Tod to be carriers in the Rajputana deserts ; and the headmen of both Thoris and Banjuras are called Nuik, The question needs further examination. It is not at all impossible that the Thoris may be allied to or identical with the lower class of Eanjaras, while the Aheris are true hunters. Rut in the Panjab plains the two words seem to be used indifferently, and I shall consider them as synonymous for the present. Mr. Wilson says that an Aheri is called Naik as a term of honour, and Thori as a term of contempt.
The Aheris or Heris or Thoris are by heredity hunters and fowlers, and Sir Henry Elliott says that they have proceeded from the Dhanaks, though they do not eat dead careasses as the Dhanaks do. Their name is said to signify cowherd,'^ from her, a herd of cattle. They are vagrant in their habits, but not unfrcquently settle down in villages where they find employ ment. They catch and eat all sorts of wild animals, pure and impure, and work in reeds and grass. In addition to these occupations they work in the fields, and especially move about in gangs at harvest time in seareh of em ployment as reapers ; and they cut wood and grass and work as general labourers, and on roads and other earthworks. In Sirsa they occasionally cultivate, while in Karnal they often make saltpetre, and in Rajputana they are employed as out-door servants, and even as musicians. Their home is Raj putana, and especially Jodhpur and the prairies of Bikaner, and they are found in the Panjab only in Dehli and Hissar divisions, Jind, and Patiala. In ap pearance and physique they resemble the Bawaria just described; but they have no special dialect of their own. A few in the Sikh States are returned as Sikhs ; but the remainder are Hindus. They are considered outcasts, and made to live beyond the village ditch. They do not keep donkeys nor eat beef or carrion, and they worship the ordinary village deities, but especially Babaji of Kohmand in Jodhpur and Khetrpal of Jodpur. The Chamarwa Brahmans olficiate at their marriages and on like occasions. They burn their dead and send the ashes to the Ganges. Mr. Christie says What beef is to the Hindu and pork to the Musalman, horse-desh is to the Aheri. ■' They have clans with Rajput names, all of which interinarry one with another. They are said in some parts to be addicted to thieving ; ut this is not their general character.
The Sansi
(Caste No. 72)
The Sinsis are the vagrants of the centre of the Panjab. as the Aheris are of its south-eastern portions. They are most numerous in the Lahore and Amritsar divisions, and are also found in consider able numbers in Ludhiana, Karnal and Gujrat. They trace their origin from Marwar and Ajmer where they are still very numerous. They are essentially a wandering tribe, seldom or never setting for long in any one place. They are great hunters, catching and eating all sorts of wild animals, both clean and unclean, and eating carrion. They keep sheep, goats, pigs and donkeys, work in grass and straw and reeds, and beg ; and their women very commonly dance and sing and prostitute themselves.
They have some curious connection with the Jat tribes of the Central Panjab, to most of whom they are the hereditary genealogists or bards ; and even in Rajputana they commonly call themselves bliart or bards.^ They are said also to act as genealogists to the Dogars of Firozpur, the Rajputs of Husbyarpur and Jalandhar, and the Sodhis of Anandpur-. About 11 per cent, are returned as :Musalmans and a very few as Sikhs. The rest are Hindus, but they are of course outcasts. A slight sketch of their religion is given in section 296. They trace then- descent from one Sans Mal of Bhartpur whom they still revere as their Guru, and are said to worship his patron saint under the name of Malang Shah. Their marriage ceremony is peculiar, the bride being covered by a basket on which the bride groom sits while the nuptial rites are being performed. They are divided into two great tribes, Kalka and IMalka which do not intermarry. They have a dialect peculiar to themselves ; and their women are especially depraved.
The Sansis are the most criminal class in the Panjab ; and it will be seen from Abstract No. 97 on the next page* that they are registered under the g^ Act in nine districts. Still though the whole caste is probably open to sus picion of petty pilfering, they are by no means always professional thieves. The Panjab Government wrote in 1881: Their habits vary greatly in different localities. A generation ago they were not considered a criminal class at Lahore, where they kept up the genealogies of the Jat land-holders and worked as agricultural labourers. In Gurdaspur on the other hand they are notorious as the worst of criminals.-Where they are professional criminals they are determined and fearless, and commit burglary and highway robbery, though their gangs are seldom large. The thieving Sansis are said to admit any caste to their fraternity on payment except Dhedhs and Mhangs ; and the man so admitted becomes to all intents and purposes a Sansi.
The Pakhiwara
(Caste No. 117)
The Pakhiwaras are often said to be a branch of the Sansis, whom they resemble in many respects ; but this is more than doubtful. They take their name from the word pakhi, which means a bird/' and also a straw but,either meaning being appropriate, as the Pakhiwaras live in straw huts and are hunters and fowlers. They are found chiefly in the Amritsar division, Gujrat, and Multan, but especially in Suilkot. They are all Musalman, but eat vermin and are therefore outcasts. ^ They are by hereditary occupation fowlers and hunters; but they seem to have taken very generally to hawking vegetables about for sale, and in some parts the word Pakhiwara is almost synonymous with kunjra or green grocer.They are a very criminal tribe, and in Sialkot they are (see Abstract No. 97) registered as such and have been settled by Government in small villages and given land to cultivate. Excepting the persons so settled the Pakhiwaras are essentially vagrant in their habits.
The Jhabel
(Caste No. 107)
The Jhabel, or as he is often called Cha bel, is said to take his name from Chamb, the Panjabi for a jhil or marsh.^ Mr. O'Brien describes the Jhabel in his Glossary a.s a tribe of fishermen who came originally from Sindh, and still speak pure Sindhi among themselves ; and who are addressed By the title of Jam, which is Sindhi for ' Prince.' They are Musalmans and are considered orthodox, because they do not, like the Kehals and other fishing tribes, eat turtles and crocodiles ^This refers
' Mr. ChriBtie says that, or the four great Suuni schools (see section 283), the Hambali are most restricted as to what is lawful to eat, the Hanifi rules follow very closely the Mosaic customs, the Shafai teach that all animals which inhabit the water are cleau, while The Maliki pronounce everything pure, whether on earth or in the water, and exclude only such animals as have been epecially declared unclean, as the dog, the pig, and birds that use their talons when feeding. He tells me that all Pakhfwiras belong to the Maliki, and all .Ihabels and Mallahs to the Shafai school. ^Another derivation is from jham, the dredger used in sinking wells. fo the neighbourhood of Multan, where they are a purely fishing- and hunting caste of vagrant habits, living on the banks of The river. But they have spread up the Satluj as high as Firozpur and Lahore, and on the upper parts of the river work ehiefly as boatmen though they still fish and are great hunters. Li fact Mr. Wilson says that all the Sirsa MrallAhs or boatmen are Jhabelsj and it is very probable that many .Ihabels have in that district, and perhaps elsewhere, returned themselves as Mallali.
There are small colonies of Jhabels in Hushyarpur, Gurdaspur, and Kapurthala, who are hunters and fishermen, divers and well-sinkers, and some times own a little hind. They look upon the calling of boatman as degrading, and will not intirmairy with the Jhabels of the Satluj. In Gurdaspur the word is said to include men of any caste who make their living from the fens or swamps ; but I doubt the accuracy of this statement. (See also next paragraph under Kehal.)
The Kehal or Mor
(Caste No. 161)
The Kehals or Mors, for the two appear to be identical and I have joined the figures together, are a vagrant fishing tribe found on the banks of the lower Satluj, Chenab, and Indus. Mr. O'Brien writes of them in his Glossary: —
They profess Maliomedunism, but eat alligators, turtles and tortoises, which they justify by a text of imam shafi.' They derive their name from kehara, Sindhi for lion; but perhaps the Sanskrit kewada or ' fisherman ' is a more probable derivation.
And in his Settlement Report he writes : —
The Kehals and Mors are said to be one tribe. In the north of the district they are called Mors, eat crocodiles and tortoises, and no Maliomedan will associate with them. In the sonth they do not eat these animals, and are considered good Mahomcdaus. The Kehals and Mors live by fishing, but some of them, a-; well as of the .Jhabels, have taken to agriculttire, and are fond of cultivating samuka, a grain that is sown in the mud left by the retreating river. These tribes live separately in villages near the rive, called Miaui, from me. a ' fislierinan.' There is an old report in the Deputy Commissioner's office, which says that these three tribes ■' were cannibals ; bat modern observation does not confirm this.
The Kehal smell a Mor from a long distance, and will fiee at his approach ; and some officers who have come into contact with the tribe tell me that they are in clined to believe the statement, for that they would do the same. Of the 1,251 Kehals entered in the tables, 390 returned themselves as Mor and 861 as Kehal.
The Gagra
(Caste No. 133)
Gagra is a small caste, for the most part Musalmans and chiefly found in the central districts, who wander about catching and eating vermin. But their hereditary occupation is that of catching, keeping, and applying leeches ; and they are often called Jukera, from jonk, a leech. They also make matting and generally work in grass and straw, and in some parts the coarse sacking used for bags for pack animals and similar purposes is said to be made almost entirely by them. The Musalman Gagras marry by nikah. They seem to fulfil some sort of functions at weddings, and are said to receive fees on those occasions. It is said that they worship Bala Shah, the Chuhra Guru.
TheMina
(Caste No. 166)
The Mina is, in the Panjab at least, almost invariably criminal. In Alwar and Jaipur, however, which are his home, this does not appear to be the case. Indeed the Jaipur State is said to be really made up of petty Mina States, now under the chieftaincy of the Kachwaha Rajputs. In Gurgaon indeed he cultivates laud, but this does not prevent his being a professional thief. I extract the following tleserir tion of the caste from Major Powlett^s Gazetteer of Alwar : —
Minas were formerly the rulers of much of tho country now held by the Jaipur Chief. They still hold a good social position, for Rajputs will cat ami drink from their hands, and they are the most trusted guarda in The .Taipur State. The Minas are of two classes, the ' Zemindari ' or agricultural, and the 'Chaukidari, ' or watchmen. 'Rhe former are excellent cultivators, and are good, well-behaved people. They form a large portion of the population in Karauli, and are numerous in Jaipur.
The 'Chaukidari ' Minas, though of the same tribe as the other chis.s, are distinct from it. They consider themselves soldiers by profession, and so somewhat superior to their agricultural brethen, from whom they take, but do not give, girls in marriage. Many of the ' Chaukidari ' Minas take to agriculture, Hnd, I believe, thereby lose caste to some extent. These Chaukidari Minas are the famous marauders. Thev travel in bands, headed by a chosen leader, as far south as Haidarabad in the Deccan, where they commit daring robberies; and they are the principal class which the Thaggi and Dscoiti Suppression Department has to act against.
In their own villages they are often charitable ; and as successful plunder has made some rich, they benefit greatly the poor of their neighbourhoood, and are consequently popular But those who have not the enterprise for distant expeditions, but steal and rob near Their own 'homes, are numerous and are felt to he a great pest. Some villages pay them highly as Chauki dars to refrain from plundering and to protect the village from others. So notorious are they as robbers that the late Chief of Alwar, Banni Singh, was afraid lest they should corrupt their agricultural brethren, and desirous of keeping them apart forbade their marrying or even smoking or associating with members of the well-conducted class.
In April 1863, Major Impey, then Political Agent of Alwar, issued orders placing the Chaukidari Minas under surveillance; and under Major Cadell's direction lists of them Have been made out, periodical roll-call enforced in the villages and absence without leave certificate punished.
I am not sure that, although speaking generally, Minas are divided into Chaukidari and Zamindari, there is any hard and fast line between the two classes. There is, I believe, an intermediate class, for Maharaja Banui Singh's attempts to keep the two apart were not very successful.
There are said to be 32 clans of Minas. Out of 59 Minas apprehended for dacoity by the Dacoity Suppression Department, I found that the Jeb clan furnished 17, the Kagot 9, the Sira 8 and the Jarwal and Bagri 5 each. The Susawat was, I believe, formerly the most powerful clan, and that which held Ajmere.
The Minas are the boldest of our criminal classes. Their head -quarters, so far as the Panjab is concerned, are the village of Shahjahanpur; attached to the Gurgaon district But surrounded on all sides by Rajputana territory. There they till lately defied our police, and even resisted them with armed force. Their enterprises are on a large scale, and they are always prepared to use violence if necessary. In Marwar they are armed with small bows, which do considerable execution. They travel great distances in gangs of from 12 to 20 men, practising robbery and dacoity even as far as the Deccan. The gangs usually start off immediately after the Diwali feast, and often remain absent the whole year. They have agents in all the large cities of Rajputana and the Deccan who give them information, and they are in league with the carrying castes of Marwar. After a successful foray they offer one-tenth of the proceeds at the shrine of Kali Devi. The criminal Minas are said to inhabit a tract of country abOut 65 miles long and 40 broad, stretching from Shahpurah 40 miles north of Jaipur to Gurtiora in Gurgaon on the Rohtak border, the most noted villages being Koti Puth^ Bhairor, and Shahjahanpur, each of which contains some 500 robbers. Their claim to Rajput descent is probably well-founded, though they are said to spring from an illegitimate son of a Rajput ; and in woman^s slang one woman is said to give Mina [mina dena) to another when she accuses her of illicit intercourse.' They practise karewa or widow-marriage. They have a
' Thus is as I find the fact stated. But the word mihna or mahna seems to be commonly u bid in the same sense throughout the Panjnb ; and it is very probable that the expression quoted b us nothing to do with the name of the Mina caste. dialect of their own ; or rather perhaps, a set of slang words and phrases which are common to the criminal classes. In the Pan jab the Mina is almost confined to Gurgaon and the neighbouring portions of the Patiala and Nabha States. They are almost all Hindus and belong to the Chaukidari section and the Kagot clan (sec Further under Meo, section 478).
The Harni
(Caste No. 159)== This again is one of the most criminal castes in the Provincr, and as will be seen from the figures of Abstract No. on page 312,* a greater number of them are registered under the Criminal Tribes Act than of any other caste except Sansi. They are found in the districts lying under The hills from Ludhiana to Sialkot, and also in Firozpur and Faridkot. They are said to have been Rajputs driven from Bhatner by famine, who were employed by the Rai of Raikot in Ludhiana for purposes of theft and to harass his enemies. They are also said to be Bhils or Gonds and to have come from the Rajputana desert. Their chief crimes are burglary, and highway robbery, to effect which they travel in gangs, often under the disguise of carriers with pack-oxen. Their women also wander about as pedlars to pilfer and collect information. They are all returned as Musalman.
The Bilochi
(Caste No. 18)
The Biloch of the frontier has already been described at images 193 ff But there is a small criminal tribe called Bilochi who may be noticed here. They seem to be found chiefly, if not entirely, in Ambala and Karnal, numbering some 1,000 souls in the former and 150 in the latter district, inhabiting the banks of the Saruswati from Pehoa downwards, and infesting the Chachra ur dense dhak jungle of that neighbourhood. Mr. Stone writes : — During the rainy season the whole country is inundated for months. Village roads are washed away or concealed under the luxurious growth of grass, and dense masses of jungle shut in the view on every side. No stranger could possibly penetrate to the Biloch village through such a clueless maze without a guide. The only road open to the traveller is the raised one between Thanesar and Pehoa ; the moment he leaves that he is lost. A more suitable stronghold for a criminal tribe can hardly be imagined. They are almost certainly of true Biloch origin, and still give theu- tribal names as Rind, Lashari, Jatoi, and Korai. But they are by their habits quite distinct from both the land-owning Biloch and the camel-driver who is so commonly called Biloch simply because he ts a camel driver (see section Abstract No. 97 on page 312 shows the numbers registered as pro fessional criminals. They are described as coarse-looking men of a dark colour living in a separate quarter, and with nothing to distinguish them from the scavenger caste except a profusion of stolen ornaments and similar property. They say that their ancestors once lived beyond Kasur in the Lahore district but were driven out on account of their marauding habits. The men still keep camels and cultivate a little land as their ostensible occupation ; but dur ing a great part of the year they leave the women, who are strictly secluded, at home, and wander about disguised aslaqirs or as butchers in seareh of sheep for sale, extending their excursions to great distances and apparently to almost all parts of India. Further information will be found in a very interesting report by Mr. Stone In Panjab Government Home Proceedings, No. 16 of Mareh 1877.
The Bangali
The word Bangali is applied to any native of Bengal, and especially to the Bengali Baboo of our offices. The figures given in our tables under Caste No. 168 evidently refer to these men and are not properly caste statistics the Bengalis of the Panjab being of various castes, though generally I believe either Brahmasn or Kayaths. But in the Panjab there is a distinct criminal tribe known as Bangali, who are said to have emigrated from Hushyarpm* to Kangra in which district they are chiefly to be found. They are not registered under the Criminal Tribes Act. None of these peojole have been returned in our Census tables as Bangali by caste ; and as th' y .are some limes said to be a Sansi clan and as the word Bangali seems to be applied in some districts to all Kanjars and in others to all Sipadas or snake-charmers, it is probable that the Kungra Bangalis are not a separate caste. I see that in the Dehli division Bangalis have been inchided with Sansis. Mr. Christie writes : The Bangalis have very probably been included with Jogis in the returns. There are a vagrant tribe of immigrants from Bengal. They keep dogs and donkeys and exhibit snakes, eat all sorts of vermin, and have a dialect of their own. Their women dance, sing, and prostitute them selves. They are not criminals in the ordinary sense, but are in the habit of kidnapping boys to sell to Hindu mahants (sic) . The name is also applied generally to Musalman jugglers.
Other criminal tribes
The Tagus of Karual and the upper doah of the Gauges and Jamna are admittedly Brahmans, and have probably returned themselves as such.^ Tagu is merely used to denote a section of that caste which has taken to picking pockets and petty theft. They steal only by day and seclude their women. They wear the janeo or sacred thread. They have lately been declared under the Criminal Tribes Act. They must be distinguished from the Tagas, also a Brahminical tribe of the same parts, who are peaceful agriclturists. It is said that the name is properly Taku, but Tagu is the form in common use.
The Gurmangs
Are an insignificant class of criminals found in the Rawalpindi district, where some of them are registered as criminals. They do not appear in our returns, nor can I say under what caste they have returned themselves.
The Kanjars
(Caste No. 135) will presently be described in section 590. They appear to be often criminal in their habits, more especially in the neigh bourhood of Dehli.
The Dumnas and Chuhras
(Caste Nos. 41 and 44)
are described in sections 597 to 600. Many of the Dumnas of the Jammu hills and the there plains immediately below them are professional thieves. Of criminal Chuhras appear to be two distinct classes, those of the Dehli territory and those of the western sub-montane districts, each of which uses a separate ar^oi peculiar to itself.
The Rawals
(Caste No. 80) have been described in section 528, and are often professional criminals. In fact the same may be said of almost every one of the lowest castes, as well as of the vagrant classes next to be discussed.
The Dumnas and Chuhras
(Caste Nos. 41 and 44)
are described in sections 597 to 600. Many of the Dumnas of the Jammu hills and the there plains immediately below them are professional thieves. Of criminal Chuhras appear to be two distinct classes, those of the Dehli territory and those of the western sub-montane districts, each of which uses a separate ar^oi peculiar to itself.
The Rawals
(Caste No. 80) have been described in section 528, and are often professional criminals. In fact the same may be said of almost every one of the lowest castes, as well as of the vagrant classes next to be discussed.
See also
Vagrant and Criminal (so-called ) Tribes of the Punjab, 1883
Vagrant, Menial (so-called) and Artisan Castes, Punjab, 1883: II
