1 300
2 PANJAB CASTES.
3 " course of lonstruction. F.-om these details it will be perceived that the Girths have no ea^v
4 " time of it, and their energies and powers of endurance must he most elastic to bear up against
5 " this incessant toil.
6 " To look at their frames, they appear incapable of sustaining such fatigue. The men are
7 " short in stature, frequently disfigured by goitre (which equally affects both sexes), dark and sickly
8 " in complexion, and with little or no hair on their faces. Hoth men and women have coarse
9 '' features, mure resembling the Tartar physiognomy than any other type, and it is rare to see a
10 " handsome face, though suuietimes the younger women may be called pretty. Both se.tcs are
11 " extremely addicted to spirituous di-inks. Although industrious cultivators, they are very litigious
12 " and quarrelsome ; hut their disputes seldom lead to blows ; and though intemperate, they are still
13 " thrifty, — a Girth seldom wastes his substance in drink. In their dealings with one another they
14 " are honest and truthful, and altogether then' character, though not so peaceable and manly as the
15 " Rathi, has many ^■aluabIe and endearing traits. The Girtlis being Sudras do not wear thejaneo or
16 " thread of caste. They take money for their daughters, but seldom exchange them. The younger
17 " brother takes his brother's widow ; if she leave his protection, he was entitled by the law of
18 " the country to her restitution and under us he should at all events receive money com-
19 " pensation."
20 The Ghiraths are said to be of Rajput origin by mixed marriages or
21 illegitimate intercourse, but I have no trustwortiiy information on the subject.
22 They are essentially agricultural, and the proverb says : — " As the rice Ijcnds
23 " in the ear the Ghirath lifts his head." Their social position is low. " You
24 " can no more make a saint of a Ghirath than expect chastity of a buffalo,"
25 and they practise widow-marriage, for " You can't make a Ghiratlmi a widow,
26 " any more than you can turn a hill buffalo into a barren cow.''
27 The Glui'aths have returned few large sub-divisions. The eight largest
28 are given in the margin. Bhard-
29 waj is another Brahminical r/oira,
30 and probably rcttirned through
31 misapprehension. Chhabru is
32 found only in Hushyarpur, and
33 Chhora and Bhattu only in
34 Kangra. The others occur in
35 both districts.
36 Ghibatu Teibes.
37 1.
38 Kaiidal
39 . 24,392 1 5. Reru
40 .. 2,532
41 2.
42 Bhai'dwaj
43 . S,33U
44 6. Badial
45 .. 2,058
46 3.
47 Pathari .
48 . 3,U91
49 7. Chliora .
50 .. 1,695
51 4.
52 Chhabru .
53 . 2,717
54 8. Battu
55 .. 1,623
56 -Having thus disposed of the two
57 hills, I shall tiike the others as far
58 490, The Reya (Caste No. 147).-
59 great inferior cultivating castes of the
60 as possible in order of locality from east to west. The Reyas are a small
61 Hindu caste found only in the Dehli district. They say they were Rajputs
62 but were excluded from the caste because they took to practising /f-arewa or rp
63 v/idow-marriage. They are now quite separate. They eat and smoke with
64 Jats and agricultural castes of similar standing, but will not marry them
65 except by karewa. They own nine villages in ]5ehli, and the names of their
66 clans are sometimes Rajput and sometimes not. They trace their origin from
67 Mahrauli where the Qutlj pillar stands.
68 491. The Lodha and Kachhi (Caste Nos. 105 and 142).— These are two
69 well-known cultivating castes of Hindiistan, and are found in the Panjab
70 chiefly in the Jamna districts, though a few of them have moved on westwards
71 to the great cantonments. They are almost without exception Hindus. The
72 Lodhas are said to be numerous in Hushangabad, and to be distinct from the
73 Lodhi outcasts of Central India ; but the Lodhas of Dehli would appear to
74 be of very low social standing. It is said that there are two distinct castes of
75 LodJias, one spelled with the hard and the other with the soft d, and perhaps
76 this may account for the apparent confusion. The Ambilla Lodhas cultivate
77 hemp largely, and work it up into rope. The Kachhis are said to be the
78 market gardeners of Hindustan, and of low standing. In the Panjab I