Kahar
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(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Kahar
Synonyms: Chandrabansi, Kamkar, Rawani [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Kahal [West Bengal] Abdar, Bahia, Bahiot, Behara, Bhandari, Kamkar, Mah ara, Mahato, Raut, Sardar [H.H. Risley]
- Subcastes: Bisaria, Dhitnar, Dhuria, Garauwa, Garh
uk, Jaswar, Kharwara, Magahiya, Ramani, Rawani, Tur haiya [H.H. Risley] Batham, Bot, Dhimar, Dhinwar, Dhuriya, Gharuk, Jais war, Kamkar, Khawar, Mahar, Mallah, Raikwar, Rawani, Singhariya, Turaiya [W. Crooke] Surnames: Prasad, Ram, Singh, Verma [Bihar and/or Jh arkhand] Reward, Sindhu, Sing, Verma [West Bengal] Das [Dadra & Nagar Haveli] Bhandare, Gangole, Kachare, Lachure, Ladke, Padre, Simbre [Nanjundayya and Iyer] Aliman, Bando (a small wild cat), Kanda (sweet pota to), Kansi (a kind of grass), Kasyapa, Nag, Rawanpur, Suar (a pig) [H.H. Risley] Dahariya, Damrauiya, Imiliya (in Jhansi), Muderiya [W. Crooke] Gotra: Bharadwaj [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Exogamous units/lineages: Kachchim, Nag [West Bengal] Exogamous units/lineages (vans, khandan): [Bihar and/or Jharkhand]
Notes
According to their census there were, in 1872, 7,821 Rawani Kahars in the nine eastern districts of Bengal, of whom 1,436 were returned as residents of Dacca; while of the Behara, or Doliya sept, there were 19,569 individuals in the former districts, and 1,226 in Dacca. Kahars, however, principally inhabit Bihar and Hindustan, and in 1872 there were 378,706 belonging to the caste in the former province, while in 1865 there were 693,519 in the latter.
The relation between the Kahar and the Behara1 is still obscure, but it is probable that the latter term, as well as Doliya, are merely names given to palanquin bearers, and not to any caste.
In accordance with Brahmanical genealogy, the Kahar is descended from a Brahman father and a Nishada or Chandal mother, but it is now generally admitted that the Kahar and Dhimar are identical, the former being remnants of a primitive race who dwelt in the valley of the Ganges, and the latter outcast Kahars.
The Kahar being the most docile and industrious of workmen, is in much request throughout Bengal, and of late years he has been in great demand as a coolie for the tea gardens of Assam, Kachar, and Chittagong. A few alo come yearly from Chaprah, being employed in the city of Dacca as coolies, porters, and domestic servants; but they always return home as soon as a little money has been saved.
These Hindustani, or Rawani, Kahars, observe a peculiar worship in honour of Ganesa Ji on the seventh day of the waxing moon of Kartik (October-November), when, accompanied by Brahmans, they proceed to a wood, and make offerings of vegetables, fruits, and sweetmeats, under an "Amla" tree (Phyllanthus emblica); but never sacrifice any animal. A feast is then given to the Brahmans, after which the Kahars dine, and drink spirits to excess. The entertainment of Brahmans on this day is accounted as meritorious as the gift of five cows on any other occasion.
Kahars domiciled in Bengal, and known as Doliya, are proscribed by the Hindustani brethren, because, having ceased to observe the peculiar customs of the caste, they have adopted those of the despised Bengali Sudras.
The Doliya are met with along the old post road between Dacca and Calcutta, and at Manshurabad, on the Padma river, twenty-five houses are occupied by them, while in Farridpur still larger settlements occur. Palanquin travelling being no longer the custom in the country, the Doliyas have become cultivators, domestic servants, and palanquin bearers in cities.
The Rawani Kahar is an eager and indefatigable sportsman, but the Doliya is content to catch fish in traps, and has given up hunting and snaring game. In one respect the Doliya is unchanged. Spirit drinking is to him, as to the Rawani Kahar, the summum bonum of life, but hs shudders at the thought of swine's flesh, which is still a favourite article of food with his Hindustani kinsmen. The Doliyas, rejected by the Kahars and by the Bengali Sudras, have a Brahman of their own, and all belong to a gotra called Aliman. The majority are Saiva worshippers, but a few are Vaishnavas.
In Bengal the Hindi name, "Mahara," is applied to any palanquin bearers not Kahars, and in Dacca bearers either belong to the Mitra Seni subdivision of the Buinmali caste, or to the Kandho branch of the Chandal. A few Muhammadan Palanquin bearers, called Doli-walas, or Sawari-walas, may occasionally be picked up, but their numbers are yearly diminishing.
Last century the title Kahar was, at Patna, the distinctive appellation of a Hindu slave, as Maulazadah was of a Muhammadan; and the tradition in 1774 was, that the Kahar slavery took its rise when the Muhammadans first invaded Northern India.1
1 "Slavery in India," by James Peggs, p. 6.
1 Sanskrit, bhara, a load.
