The Bhand

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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 Bhand

Caste No 141

The Bhand or Nnqqal Is the story-teller, joker, and bu-ffoon, and is often also called Basha. The name comes from the Hindi Bhanda buffooning.He is separate from and of a lower pro fessional status than the Bahrupia. Both are commony kept by Rajas and other wealthy men like the jester of the early English noble, but both also wander about the country and perform to street auduience . The Bhand is not a true caste any more than the Bahrupia, and I understand that they are often Mirasis by caste and probably have'in many casete also returned themselves. Elliott seems to imply that Bahrupia is a caste and Bhjiad an occupation ; but the former statement is certainly not true in the Panjub. The entries under this head include both Basha and Naqqal.