DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0228
THE CASTE SYSTEM OF NORTHERN INDIA
The Dhimar is a Kahar occupational subcaste of
fishermen which for some unknown
8. (iv) Dhimar reason has separated itself from the
parent stock all over the United Provin-
ces. It has a permanent panchayat, and in all respects
resembles the Kahar caste.
The Ghogar is a new Muhammadan caste of converts
from Hinduism which is found in Mora-
g. (v) Ghogar dabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor and
Naini Tal. There are various accounts
of their origin. They themselves claim variously
Arabian and Kshatriya descent (according, no doubt,
as the claimant attaches more importance to reli-
gion or to race). Another theory is that they
descend from the union of a Dhinwar Khagi and
a Bharbhunja woman, which seems to be an etiological
myth explaining their occupations of digging wells and
parching grain, the traditional functions of the two
groups mentioned. Ghogar is then explained as a cor-
ruption of 1 do ghar’, or two houses—an impossible deri-
vation. A less improbable story assigns them as ances-
tor one Ghogh Mallah—in which case Ghogar is a
diminutive. They practise the levirate, and permit mar-
riage witli the mother’s brother’s daughter but with no
other cousin—which amounts to a considerable restriction
on the usual Muhammadan custom. They observe some
Hindu festivals, but are better Muhammadans than most
castes of the same social standing.
The Gidhiya caste lives in Moradabad, Naini Tal and
Bijnor. Their origin is uncertain : they
io. (vi) Gidhiya themselves assert sometimes that they are
descended from a clan of Gujarat Rajputs
called Athpahariya, sometimes that they are emi-
grants from a place called Harewala, though they
do not know where that is. They have four
endogamous subcastes—Athpahariya, Bawariya, Gan-
dhila and Phandiya—which last, they say, is their caste
name in their native land (i.e. Gujarat or ‘Harewala’).
They practise the levirate and marriage with the maternal
uncle’s daughter, but with no other cousin. A daughter
214
The Dhimar is a Kahar occupational subcaste of
fishermen which for some unknown
8. (iv) Dhimar reason has separated itself from the
parent stock all over the United Provin-
ces. It has a permanent panchayat, and in all respects
resembles the Kahar caste.
The Ghogar is a new Muhammadan caste of converts
from Hinduism which is found in Mora-
g. (v) Ghogar dabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor and
Naini Tal. There are various accounts
of their origin. They themselves claim variously
Arabian and Kshatriya descent (according, no doubt,
as the claimant attaches more importance to reli-
gion or to race). Another theory is that they
descend from the union of a Dhinwar Khagi and
a Bharbhunja woman, which seems to be an etiological
myth explaining their occupations of digging wells and
parching grain, the traditional functions of the two
groups mentioned. Ghogar is then explained as a cor-
ruption of 1 do ghar’, or two houses—an impossible deri-
vation. A less improbable story assigns them as ances-
tor one Ghogh Mallah—in which case Ghogar is a
diminutive. They practise the levirate, and permit mar-
riage witli the mother’s brother’s daughter but with no
other cousin—which amounts to a considerable restriction
on the usual Muhammadan custom. They observe some
Hindu festivals, but are better Muhammadans than most
castes of the same social standing.
The Gidhiya caste lives in Moradabad, Naini Tal and
Bijnor. Their origin is uncertain : they
io. (vi) Gidhiya themselves assert sometimes that they are
descended from a clan of Gujarat Rajputs
called Athpahariya, sometimes that they are emi-
grants from a place called Harewala, though they
do not know where that is. They have four
endogamous subcastes—Athpahariya, Bawariya, Gan-
dhila and Phandiya—which last, they say, is their caste
name in their native land (i.e. Gujarat or ‘Harewala’).
They practise the levirate and marriage with the maternal
uncle’s daughter, but with no other cousin. A daughter
214