1 MINOR LAND-OWNING AND AGRICULTURAL CASTES. 195
2 Karabohs who have become Musalmans, and that the Ghaggar Arains
3 emigrated in a body fi-om Multan, while the others moved gradually
4 up the Satluj into their present place. He describes the Ariiins of the
5 Ghaggar as the most advanced and civilised tribe in the Sirsa district,
6 even surpassing the Sikh Jats from Patiala ; and he considers them at
7 least equal in social status with the Jats, over whom they themselves claim
8 superiority. The Arains of Firozpiu-, Ludhiana, Ambala, and Hissar also
9 trace their origin from Uchh or its neighbourhood, though the Hissar Arains
10 are said to be merely Mahomedan Malis.
11 Of the Arains of Jalandhar Mr. Barkley says that they are commonly
12 believed to be descended from Kambohs, and that even those who are ashamed
13 of so commonplace an origin are not prepared altogether to disclaim the
14 relationship, but state that the Kambohs are the illegitimate and they the
15 legitimate descendants of a common ancestor. He further states that thev are
16 settlers from the south, that none of their settlements are much older than
17 250 years, and that their original countiy is said to extend from Hansi to
18 Multan, while those of the Jalandhar Arains whose history he has traced have
19 come fi'om the direction of Hissar. The Jalandhar Arains themselves say
20 they are descended from Rai Chajju of Ujjain who held the whole of the Sirsa
21 district mjagir ; while the Karnal Rains also trace their origin fi'om Sirsa.
22 On the whole it would appear probable that the Arains originally came fi'om
23 tue lower Indus and spread up the five rivers of the Panjab ; and that at an
24 early stage in their history a section of them moved up the Ghaggar, perhaps
25 then a pen nanent river flowing into the Indus, and there gained for them-
26 selves a position of some importance. As the Ghaggar dried up and the
27 neighbouring country became more arid, they moved on into the Jamna dis-
28 tricts and (J!is-Satluj tract generally, and perhaps spread along the foot of the
29 hills across! the line of movement of their brethren who were moving up the
30 valleys of tlie lai'ger rivers. Their alleged connection with the Malis is pro-
31 bably basecl only upon common occupation ; but there does seem some reason
32 to think that they may perhaps be akin to the Kambohs, though the difference
33 must be m(t)re than one of religion only, as many of the Kambohs are Musal-
34 man.
35 196- Abstract No. 86 on the opposite page* shows some of the largest Arain
36 clans. I have included under the head Arain 987 persons who have retm-ned
37 themselves as Bhohar, which I am informed is an Ai-ain clan. Of these 850
38 were in Multan, 34 in Montgomery, and 103 in Muzaffargarh.
39 487. The Kanet (Caste No. 20).— The Kanets are the low-caste cultivat-
40 ing class of all the eastern Himalayas of the Panjab and the hills at their
41 base, as far west as Kulu and the eastern portion of the Kangra district,
42 throughout which tract they form a very large proportion of the total popula-
43 tion. Beyond this tract, in Kangra proper, their place is filled by Ghiraths.
44 The country they inhabit is held or governed by Hill Rajputs of prehistoric
45 ancestry, the greater part of whom are far too proud to cultivate with their
46 own hands, and who employ the Kanets as husbandmen. The Kanets claim
47 to be of impure Rajput origin, but there is little doubt that they are really of
48 aboriginal tock. At the same time it is most difiicult to separate them from
49 161- Rathis {q. v., page 251t), and in Chamba both have been included imder the
50 latter head. The whole question of their origin is elaborately discussed by
51 General Cunningham at pages 125 to 135 of Vol. XIV of his Archaeological
52 o2