DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0149
CHAPTER VIII
HILL CASTES
There are only three main castes in the hill tracts, name-
ly, the Brahman, Rajput and Dom. In
x. Distribution Almora in 1911, for instance, out of a total
Hindu population of 518,000, 490,000 be-
longed to one or other of these three groups; in Garhwal,
there were 459,000 out of 475,000 : in the state of Tehri the
figure was no less than 293,000 out of 299,000. Such other
castes as are represented in the hills are not true hill castes :
their members are settlers, more or less permanent, from
the plains, or in the case of the Bhotiyas, from Tibet.
In 1911 there were, for instance, some 3,000 Banias, 9,000
Bhotiyas, 8,000 Faqirs and 2,000 Gurkhas in Almora, of
whom the last-named are troops cantoned in the district,
whilst the Faqirs are attracted by its numerous holy places ;
but these are the only Hindu castes with over 1,000 mem-
bers. Similarly, in Garhwal, the only castes apart from
the Brahman, Rajput and Dom with over 1,000 members
were the Bania (2,000), Bhotiya (3,000), Chamar (1,000),
Faqir (3,000) and Gurkha (2,000); whilst in Tehri there
were 3,000 Chamars and no other caste with over 1,000
members.1
The hill Brahman and hill Rajput both cliffer wixlely
from their brethren in the plains. In 1911
the Brahman caste was recorded at the cen-
sus under twelve main subcastes, the Raj-
put under forty-three principal clans. But
in 1911, in Almora, Garhwal and Tehri, out of 297,000
Brahmans only 3,750 2 belonged to one or other of the
?. Hill Brah-
mans and hill
Rajputs
1 There are hill tracts in Naini Tal and Dehra Dun ; but their
figures are not referred to above because they also possess submontane
tracts, and this fact makes it impossible to treat their figures as symp-
tomatic of hill districts. Garhwal possesses submontane tracts, but they
are of small extent.
2 Gaurs 571, Kanaujiyas 387, Saraswatis 2,752, Panchdravids 40.
135
HILL CASTES
There are only three main castes in the hill tracts, name-
ly, the Brahman, Rajput and Dom. In
x. Distribution Almora in 1911, for instance, out of a total
Hindu population of 518,000, 490,000 be-
longed to one or other of these three groups; in Garhwal,
there were 459,000 out of 475,000 : in the state of Tehri the
figure was no less than 293,000 out of 299,000. Such other
castes as are represented in the hills are not true hill castes :
their members are settlers, more or less permanent, from
the plains, or in the case of the Bhotiyas, from Tibet.
In 1911 there were, for instance, some 3,000 Banias, 9,000
Bhotiyas, 8,000 Faqirs and 2,000 Gurkhas in Almora, of
whom the last-named are troops cantoned in the district,
whilst the Faqirs are attracted by its numerous holy places ;
but these are the only Hindu castes with over 1,000 mem-
bers. Similarly, in Garhwal, the only castes apart from
the Brahman, Rajput and Dom with over 1,000 members
were the Bania (2,000), Bhotiya (3,000), Chamar (1,000),
Faqir (3,000) and Gurkha (2,000); whilst in Tehri there
were 3,000 Chamars and no other caste with over 1,000
members.1
The hill Brahman and hill Rajput both cliffer wixlely
from their brethren in the plains. In 1911
the Brahman caste was recorded at the cen-
sus under twelve main subcastes, the Raj-
put under forty-three principal clans. But
in 1911, in Almora, Garhwal and Tehri, out of 297,000
Brahmans only 3,750 2 belonged to one or other of the
?. Hill Brah-
mans and hill
Rajputs
1 There are hill tracts in Naini Tal and Dehra Dun ; but their
figures are not referred to above because they also possess submontane
tracts, and this fact makes it impossible to treat their figures as symp-
tomatic of hill districts. Garhwal possesses submontane tracts, but they
are of small extent.
2 Gaurs 571, Kanaujiyas 387, Saraswatis 2,752, Panchdravids 40.
135