1 MINOR LAND-OWNING AND AGRICULTURAL CASTES. 201
2 believe they are generally engaged in the cultivation of water-nuts and similar
3 produce ; indeed in many parts they are called Siughari (from Siiighdra, a
4 water-uut) as commonly as Kachhi.
5 492. The Kamboh (Caste No 33.)~The Kambohs are one of the finest
6 cultivating castes in the Paujitb. They seldom engage in market-gardening,
7 but they are no less industrious and skilful than the Araius. They are found
8 in the upi>.'r Satluj valley as low down as ^Montgomery, throughout the
9 northern portion of the Eastern Plains, and as low down the Jamna valley as
10 Karnal. They ai-e especially numerous in Kapurthala. The Jamna Kambohs
11 seem to have come into the valley from the west, and there has quite lately
12 been a very large influx of Kambohs from the northern tracts of Patiala into
13 the great dJidk jungles between Thanesar and the river. The Satluj Kambohs
14 of ^Montgomery are divided into two branches, one of which came up the
15 river from the jMultan country and the other down the valley from the
16 neighboiu-hood of Kapui-thala, both movements having taken place under the
17 Sikh rule. They claim descent from Raja Karan, and say that their ancestor
18 fled to Kashmir. The Kambohs of Bijuor also trace their origin to the trans-
19 Indus country, and Mr. Purser accepts this tradition as evidently true. They
20 ai'e said by some to be ancient inhabitants of Persia, and the Kai'nal Kamliohs
21 trace their origin from Garh Ghazni ; but the fact that 40 per cent, of them
22 are Hindus and l'^> per ceut. Sikhs is conclusive against their having had any
23 extra-Indian origin, unless at a very remote period. I have iu section 486
24 noted the fact that Arains and Kambohs are commonly supposed to be closely
25 related. Indeed in ^lontgomery a man appears to be called Arain if he is
26 Musalman and Kamboh if Hindu. But that this is not always the case is
27 evident fi-om the fact of a very considerable proportion of the Kambohs of
28 Amritsar, Lahore, Firozpur, Patiala, Nabha, and ]Maler Kotla having returned
29 themselves as ilusalmans, although iMusalmau Ai-ains ai'e also numerous in
30 those tracts. In Jalandhai' the village of Bhalowal is owned partly by
31 Kambohs and pai-tly by Araius, both being Musalman. It is perhaps doubtful
32 whether the supposed relationship has any further basis than the fact that they
33 both came from the west, and ar"^; both of much the same social standing and
34 agricultural repute. The detailed clan tables will probably throw light on
35 the question, though in Kapurthala, the stronghold of the Kambohs, then-
36 clans were not recorded. It is said by some that the chief distinction is that
37 the Kambohs take money for their daughters, while the Ai-ains do not.
38 But the social standing of the Kamboh is ou the whole superior to that of the
39 Araui, and very mai'kedly so where the latter is a vegetable-grower. The
40 Kamboh, moreover, is not a mere agriculturist. He not uufrequently engages
41 in trade, and even takes service iu the armj' or in offices or even as a private
42 servant, while his wife not uufrequently lends money even where he is a mere
43 husbandman ; and under Akbar a Kamboh General called Shahljaz Khan com-
44 manded 5,(J0U men and distinguished himself greatly in Bengal. Musalman
45 Kambohs held Sohna in Gurgaou Some centuries ago ; and the tombs and
46 mosques that they have left show that they must have enjoyed a consideraljle
47 position. The mihtary, mercantile, and clerkly Kambohs are said to be dis-
48 tinguished as Qalmi or " men of the pen," and not to intermarry with the
49 agricultural section of the caste. But this is probably a mere social custom and
50 not a caste rule. The Kambohs do not seem to bear as high a character for
51 honesty as they do for skill. There is a Persian proverb current in the North-
52 West Provinces : " The jVfghaus, the Kambohs, and the Kashmiris ; all three