1 MINOR LAND-OWNING AND AGRICULTURAL CASTES. 185
2 Rawalpindi, calling- them " excellent cultivators.'' So the Giijars of Hushyar-
3 pur are said to be " a ijuiet and well-behaved set." In Jalandhar Sir
4 Richard Temple describes them as " here as elsewhere of pastoral habits, but
5 " more industrious and less predatory than usual;" and Mr. Barkley wi'ites :
6 " At present, after thirty years of British rulcj they are proljably as little
7 " given to crime as any other large class in the agricultui'al population It is
8 " still generally true that they occupy themselves more with grazing than
9 " with agricultui-e ; but this is by no means invariably the ease." But in
10 Firozpur again Mr. Br.indreth describes them as " unwilling cultivators, and
11 " greatly addicted to thieving," and gives instances of their criuiinal pro-
12 pensities. Thus it would appear that the further the Gujar moves from his
13 native hills, the more he deteriorates and the more unpleasant he makes him-
14 self to his neighbours. The following description of the Gujars of Kangra
15 by Mr. Barnes is both graphic and interesting : —
16 " The Gujars of the hills are quite unlike the caste of the same desigiiatioii in the plains.
17 "There they are known as an ItUe, worthless and thieving race, rejoicing in waste, and enemies to
18 " cultivation and inn)rovement ; but above and below they are both addicted to pastoral habits. In
19 " the hills the Gujars are exclusively a pastoral tribe, — they cultivate scarcely at all. The Gadls keep
20 " flocks of sheep and goats and the Gujar's wealth consists of buffaloes. These people live in the
21 " skirts of the forests, and maintain their existence exclusively by the sale of the milk, ghee, and
22 "other produce of their herds. The men graze the cattle, and frequently lie out for weeks in the
23 " woods tending their herds. Tlie women repair to the markets every morning with baskets on their
24 "heads, with little earthen pots tilled with milk, butter-milk and ghee, each of these pots
25 "containing the proportion required for a day's meal. During the hot weather the Gujars usually
26 " drive their herds to the upper range, where the buffaloes rejoice in the rich gi'a« which the
27 " rains bring forth, and at the same time attain condition from the temperate climate and the
28 " imraxmity from venomous Hies which torment their existence in the plains. The Gujars are a fine,
29 " manly race, with peculiar and handsome features. They are mild and luoil'ensive in manner, and
30 " in these hills are not distinguished by the bad pre-eminence which attaches to their race in the
31 '■plains. They are never known to thieve. Theii' women are supposed to be not very scrupulous.
32 " Their habits of frequenting public mavketa and carrying about their stock for sale unaccompanied
33 " by their husbands unloubtedly expose them to great temptations ; and I am afraid the imputa-
34 " tions agauist their character are too well founded. They are tall, well-grown women, and may be
35 " seen every morning entering the bazaars of the hill towns, returning hum.; about the afternoon
36 " with their baskets emptied of their treasures. The Gujars are found all over the district. They
37 " abound particularly about Jowala Mukhi, Tira, and Nadaun. There are some Hindu Gujars
38 "especially towards Jilandi; but they are a small sect, compared to the Musalmans."
39 It has been suggested, and is I believe held by many, that Jats and
40 Gujars, and perhaps Aliirs also, are all of one ethnic stock ; and this because
41 there is a close communion between them. It may be that they are the same
42 in their far-distant origin. But I think that they miist have either entered
43 India at different times or settled in separate parts, and my reason for thinking
44 so is precisely because they eat and smoke together. In the case of Jat and
45 Rajptit the reason for differentiation is obvious, the latter being of higher rank
46 than the former. But the social standing of Jats, Gujars, and Ahirs being
47 practically identical, I do not see why they should ever have separated if they
48 were once the same. It is, however, possible that the Jats were the camel
49 graziers and perhaps husbandmen, the Giijars the cowherds of the hiUs, and
50 the Ahirs the cowherds of the plains. If this be so, they afford a classifica-
51 tion Ijy occupation of the yeoman class, which fills up the gap between and
52 is absolutely continuous with the similar classification of the castes above them
53 as Brahmaus, Banyas, and Raji)iits, and of the castes below them as Tarkhans,
54 Chamars, and so forth. But we must know more of the early distribution of
55 the tribes before we can have any opinion on the subject. I have noticed in
56 the early historians a connection between the migrations and location of Giijars
57 and Rajpiits which has struck me as being more than accidental ; but the