DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0173
^GIPSY'* CASTES
few words may, however, be said about other similar
castes :
(i) The Audhiya is on a level with other low caste
Hindus in matters of custom. They are dangerous
criminals, whose special ‘lay’ is counterfeit coin and
jewellery.
(ii) The Banjara caste has several branches. Their
original occupation was the carriage of grain and the sale
of cattle, and they acted as commissariat to armies in the
field. The Turkiya, Baid, and Bahrup subcastes are still
grain carriers; the Baids are also doctors and weavers,
whilst the Labana trade in salt, the Mukeri and Naik in
grain, and all of them in cattle. They used to be criminals,
specially addicted to cattle theft and kidnapping, as are
those of them who turn to crime at the present day.
But the majority are now honest, and occasionally
wealthy.
(iii) The Dalera is a low Hindu caste of petty thieves,
operating specially at fairs and bathing places and in
bazaars.
(iv) The Gandhila is a vagrant beggar, bird-catcher,
and procurer.
(v) The Gidhiya is a Bawariya offshoot that has
settled down to an agricultural life in Rohilkhand.
(vi) The Bhatra or Ramaiya is ostensibly a peddler,
actually a swindler; by turns astrologer, palmist, quack,
and confidence trickster.
(vii) The Jogi Pathans are wandering Pathan beggars,
strictly orthodox Muhammadans, usually fairly literate,
who live by swindling and cheating; pretending to be
long-lost relations, and transmuting base metal into gold
or silver are their favourite frauds. Some of them, how-
ever, are honest and respectable agriculturists.
(viii) The Rinds are a small tribe of Muhammadan
beggars, quack doctors and teachers of the Quran, who
are given to petty theft of every kind.
(ix) The Kanmail (ear-cleaner) is an offshoot from the
Mahawat Nat. They are settled in Moradabad and are
Muhammadans.
159
few words may, however, be said about other similar
castes :
(i) The Audhiya is on a level with other low caste
Hindus in matters of custom. They are dangerous
criminals, whose special ‘lay’ is counterfeit coin and
jewellery.
(ii) The Banjara caste has several branches. Their
original occupation was the carriage of grain and the sale
of cattle, and they acted as commissariat to armies in the
field. The Turkiya, Baid, and Bahrup subcastes are still
grain carriers; the Baids are also doctors and weavers,
whilst the Labana trade in salt, the Mukeri and Naik in
grain, and all of them in cattle. They used to be criminals,
specially addicted to cattle theft and kidnapping, as are
those of them who turn to crime at the present day.
But the majority are now honest, and occasionally
wealthy.
(iii) The Dalera is a low Hindu caste of petty thieves,
operating specially at fairs and bathing places and in
bazaars.
(iv) The Gandhila is a vagrant beggar, bird-catcher,
and procurer.
(v) The Gidhiya is a Bawariya offshoot that has
settled down to an agricultural life in Rohilkhand.
(vi) The Bhatra or Ramaiya is ostensibly a peddler,
actually a swindler; by turns astrologer, palmist, quack,
and confidence trickster.
(vii) The Jogi Pathans are wandering Pathan beggars,
strictly orthodox Muhammadans, usually fairly literate,
who live by swindling and cheating; pretending to be
long-lost relations, and transmuting base metal into gold
or silver are their favourite frauds. Some of them, how-
ever, are honest and respectable agriculturists.
(viii) The Rinds are a small tribe of Muhammadan
beggars, quack doctors and teachers of the Quran, who
are given to petty theft of every kind.
(ix) The Kanmail (ear-cleaner) is an offshoot from the
Mahawat Nat. They are settled in Moradabad and are
Muhammadans.
159