1 J AT, RAJPUT, AND ALLIED CASTES. 155
2 Tliilkui' is also snmctimes u-ed by the high UajpiUs of the hilU as a title of dignity, aud the two
3 words arc often confustd.
4 The Salahria (No. 12). — The Salahria ai-c Sombansi Rajinits who trace their descent from one
5 Raja Saigal of fabul'jus antiquity, and from liis de.-cfndant Cliandva Gupta. They say that their
6 eponymous ancestor came from the I>cccan in the time of Sultan Mamdah as commander of a
7 force sent to suppress the insurrection of Shxija the Khokhar, and settled at Suilkot ; and that
8 his descendants tm'ued Musalman in the time of Eahlol Lodi. They are for the most part
9 .Afahomedan, but still employ Brahmans, and do not marry within the tribe. They mark the lore-
10 heads of the bride and bridegroom with goats' blood at their weddings. Their head-quarters are in
11 the ea-tern portion of ^I'alkot, but they ar.; .also found in Gurdaspur and Lahore. The Thakar
12 returned from Sialkot under No. 11 of the Abstract are for the most part tijilahria, and have been
13 included in the figures for both tribes ; while 741 of the Sialkot Salahria show themselves as
14 Manhas and 347 as llhatti. In all these ca-esthe men are >howu under both headings. In Gurdas-
15 pur 3.712 of tlie Salahria are shown iil,o a.s Bagar or Bhiigar, aud have been included under both
16 Salahria and Bagri.
17 The KatU (No 13). — The Katil are a Rajput clan in Gurdiispur, regarding whom I have no
18 informati'-n save tljat they intermarry with the Salahria.
19 The Raghbansi (No 14). — The Ragbbansi Rajpiits arc perhaps most numerous iu the eastern
20 part of the Xorth-We^tern Provincos. In the Panjab they are chiefly found in the Hill St;ites
21 and the sub-montane of Gurdaspur and Sialkot, though there are a few in the Jamna districts also.
22 Rut the name would appear fcj imply little more than traditional origin. Thus of the Gm-da^pur
23 Raghbansi 2,0S0, and 775 of those of Sialkot, liave rctiu'ned themselves as jianhas also, and are
24 shewn under both headings.
25 456. The Rajputs of the Eastern Hills. — The last, and in many respects
26 the most lateresting group oi" Rajpiit tribes that I have to discuss, are those ol"
27 the Kangra and Simla Hills and the sub-montane tract at their foot between
28 the Beas and the Jamna. Not only are the Hill Rajputs probably those
29 among all the peoples of thu Paujab who have occupied from the most remote
30 date their present abodes, but they have also retained their independence long-
31 est. Often invaded, often defeated, the Rajas of Kangra Hills never really
32 became subjects of the Musalman ; and it was reserved to Ranjit Singh to
33 annex to his dominions the most ancient principalities in Northern India.
34 Thus the Kangra Hills are that portion of the Panjab which is most wholly
35 Hindu, not merely by the proportion which the number of real or nominal
36 Hindus bears to the total population, but still more because there has never
37 been any Musalman domination, which should either loosen the bonds of caste
38 by introducing among the converted people the absolute freedom of Islam in
39 its purity, or tighten them by throwing the still Hindu population, deprived of
40 thi-u- Rajput rulers, more wholly into the hands of then- priests. It is here
41 then that we may expect to find caste existing most nearly in the same state as
42 that in \\hich the first ilusalman invaders found it when they entered the
43 Paujab. It is certainly here that the Brahman and Kshatriya occupy
44 positions most nearly resembhng those assigned them by Manu.
45 The constitution of Rajput society in these hills will best, be explained
46 by the following extract from Mr. Barnes' Kangra Report, and by the
47 f\arthcr extracts which I shall make under the head Thakar and Rathi. The
48 extracts are long; but the matter is so important as Ij caring upon the
49 whole question of caste, that I do not hesitate to give them. Mr. Barnes
50 writes : —
51 " Any member of a royal house, whether belonging to the Dogar cii'cle of municipalities across
52 "the Ravi, or to the Jalaudbav circle on this side of the river, is esK>ntially Eajput. Those also
53 " with whom tliey conde-ceiid to marry are included under this honourable category. The name
54 " i.: a-sumed by muuy other races in the hill^ ; 1-ut by the general feeling of the country the
55 " appellation of Rajput is the Icgitmiate right of those only to whom I have here restricted
56 "it.
57 " The descendants of aU these noble houses are distinguished by the honorary title of ' Midns.'
58 "When accosted by their inferiors they receive the peculiar salutation of ' Jai Dya,' offered to no