View source for The Ghirath, Bahti and Chang

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This article is an extract from <br/>

PANJAB CASTES <br/>

SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. <br/>

Being a reprint of the chapter on <br/>
The Races, Castes and Tribes of <br/>
the People in the Report on the <br/>
Census of the Panjab published <br/>
in ''' 1883 ''' by the late Sir Denzil <br/>
Ibbetson, KCSI <br/>

Lahore : <br/>

Printed  by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, <br/>

1916. <br/>
''Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees ''<br/> 
''with the contents of this article.''
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[[Category:India|G]]
[[Category:Communities|G]]

=Caste No. 29=
The Ghiraths fill 
much the same position in Kangra proper and the hills below it as do the 
Kanets in the part to the east. With them I have included the Bahti and 
the Chang, as it appears that one and the same people are known as Ghirath 
in Kangra, and as Bahti in the eastern and Chang in the western portion of 
the lower ranges. All three intermarry freely, and are considered by Mr. Lyall 
as identical. In the Amritsar division all the Ghiraths except 128 were 
returned as Chang. The Jalandhar divisional office took the three names 
together. The Ghiraths of Kangra and Hushyarpur are thus described by 
Mr. Barnes : — 

My previous remarks (quoted on page 251* under the head Rathi) will have introduced the 
reader to the Girths. They form a considerable item in the population of these hills, and in 
actual numbers exceed any other individual caste. With the Girths I have associated the few 
Jats that reside in this district, and the Changs, which is only another name for Girths, prevalent 
about Haripur and Nurpur. They amount altogether to 111,507 souls. The Girths are sub
divided into numerous sects. There is a common saying that there are 360 varietie- of rice, and 
that the sub-divisions of the Girths are equally extensive, the analogy arising from the Girthn 
being the usual cultivators of rice. The Girths predominate in the valleys of Palum, Kangra, and 
Rihlo. They are bound again in the ' Hul Doon,' or Haripur valley. These localities are the 
strongholds of the caste, although they are scattered elsewhere in every portion of the district, and 
generally possess the richest lands and the most open spots in the hills. The Girths lielong to the 
Sudra division of Hindus, and this fact apparently accounts for the localities wherein they are 
found. The open valleys, although containing the finest lauds, are also the only accessible 
portions of the hills. The more refined castes preferred the advantages of privacy and seclusion, 
although accompanied by a sterner soil and diminished returns. They abandoned the fertile 
valleys to less fastidious classes, whose women were not ashamed to be seen nor to work in the 
fields, and the men were not degraded by being pressed as porters. 

The Girths are a most indefatigable and hard-working race. Their fertile lands yield 
double crops, and they are incessantly employed during the whole year in the various processes 
of agriculturc. In addition to the cultivation of their fields, the Girth women carry wood, 
vegetables, mangoes, milk and other products to the markets for sale ; many sit half the day 
wrangling with customers until their store is disposed of . The men are constantly seized for 
begar, or forced labour, to carry travellers' loads, or to assist in the various public buildings in 
course of construction. From these details it will be perceived that the Girths have uo easy 
time of it, and their energes and powers of endurance must be most clastic to boar np against 
this incessant t oi l. 

To look at their frames, they appear incapable of sustaining such fatigue. The men are 
'• short ill stature, frequently disfigured by goitre (which equally affects both scxes, dark and sickly 
in complexion, and with little or no hair on their faces. Both man and women  have coarse 
'• features, more resembling the Tartar physiognomy than any other type, and it is rare to see a 
handsome face, though sometimes the younger women may be called pretty. Both sexes are 
extremely addicted to spirituous drlnks. Although industrious cultivators, they are very litigious 
and quarrelsome j but their disputes seldom lead to blows ; and though intemperate, they are still 
thrifty, — a Girth seldom wastes his substance in drink. In their dealings with one anotner they 
are honest and truthful, and altogether their character, though not so peaceable and manly as the 
'* Kathi, has many valuable and endearing traits. The Girths being Sudrasdo not wear janco  or 
thread of caste. They take money for their daughters, but seldom exchange them. The younger 
brother takes his brother's widow; if she leave his protection, he was entitled by the law of 
the country to her retitution and under us he should at all events receive money com
pensation.

The Ghiraths are said to be of  Rajput origin by mixed marriages or 
illegitimate intercourse, but I have no trust worthy information on the subject. 
They are essentially agricultural, and the proverb says : — As the rice bends 
'* in the ear the Ghirath lifts his head.'Their social position is low. You 
can no more make a saint of a Ghirath than expect chastity of a buffalo/
and they practise widow-marriage, for You can't make a Ghirathni a widow, 
any more than you can turn a hill buffalo into a barren cow.

The Ghn-aths have returned few large sub-divisions. The eight largest 
are given in the margin. Bluird
wa] is another Brahminieal gotra, 
and probably returned through 
misapprehension. Chhabru is 
found only in Hushyarpur, and 
Chhora and Bhattu only in 
Kangra. The others occur in 
both districts.

See [[The Minor Agricultural and Pastoral Tribes]]