The Nai

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This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on The Races, Castes and Tribes of the People in the Report on the Census of the Panjab published in 1883 by the late Sir Denzil Ibbetson, KCSI Lahore: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this article. Secondly, this has been scanned from a book. You can help by sending the corrected version to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be duly acknowledged.

The Nai

Caste No. 21

The Nai is the barber of the country, and when a Musalman, and in the cities, is often called Hajjam. In respect of his being a barber he is a true village menial, and he shaves and shampooes the villagers, prepares tobacco for the village rest-house, and attends upon the village guests. But he is much more than a barber. He is the heredi tary bearer of formal messages from one village to another, such as news of auspicious events, formal congratulations, letters fixing the dates of weddings, and the like. News of a death is never carried by him, however, but always by a Chuhra. He forms moreover, in company with a Brahman, the embassy sent to conclude a betrothal, and he is generally the agency through which the preliminaries of match-making are conducted. At wedding cere monies too he plays an important part, next indeed lo that of the Brahman himself, and on all these occasions receives suitable gratuities. He is also the leech of the country, the Jarrah or surgeon is usually a Nai by caste, and circum cision is commonly performed by a Nai. Notwithstanding all this he is one of the impure castes, standing much on the same level as the washerman, far above the Chamar, and somewhat below the Lohar, for his occupation as a barber proper is considered degrading. At the same time every Nai is not prepared

to handle everybody's poll. The outcast tribes have their own Nais, for a Nai who had shaved a Chuhra would not be permitted to toucdi a Jat. I believe that all our own barbers are Musalmans because a Hindu Nai who shav ed a Christian would be considered as polluted. The Nais are popularly known as a class of great astuteness, and the proverb says : the jackal is the sharpest among beasts, the crow among birds, and the Nai among men/' The Nais are very uniformly distributed over the Province, being least common in the Derajat, where however some of them appear to have returned themselves as .Jats (see Abstract No. 73, page 224*). They are apparently Hindu among Hindus and Musalman among Musalmans, and in a less degree Sikh among Sikhs. On the whole about 55 per cent, are Musalmans, 6 per cent. Sikhs, and the remainder Hindus. A Sikh barber would appear a contradiction in terms ; but besides the functions enumerated above, he shampooes, cuts the nails, and cleans the ears of his patients. He appears to be known as Jajak in the west of the Province, and as Kangera or comb-man in the Hills. In Gurgaon Musalman barbers are sometimes called Ustan, as well as by the more common term Hajjam.

The Nai tribes and clans are very numerous. I show a few of the largest in the margin. The first two are most numerous in the delhi and Hissar divisions the next two in the central districts ,and the last two in the central districts,and province. The Musalman Nais of Karnal are said to be divided into two sections, the Turkia who came in with the Mahomedan conquerors and the Gagrel or converts from Hinduism, so called because their women wear or once wore the Hindu petticoat or gagra.

SeeThe Bhat