1 236
2 PANJAB CASTES.
3 who enjoys the fullest liberty and conducts himself in the most eccentric
4 fashion nnder the cloak of religion without being called in question."
5 The Rawals of the Panjab are notorious cheats. One of their favourite
6 devices is to personate a long lost relative. In the Province itself they seldom
7 venture upon open i-rime ; but they travel about the Central Provinces and the
8 Deccan and even visit Bombay and Calcutta, and there pilfer and rob. They
9 are often absent for long periods on these expeditions ; and meanwhile the
10 Banyas of their villages support their families on credit, to be repaid with
11 interest on the return of the father. Some interesting information regarding
12 them will be found in Selected Papers, No. XVIII of 1869 of the
13 Panjab Police Department. The town of Rawalpindi is named after
14 the Rawals ; but the Rawals of the district appear to have returned
15 themselves either as Jogis or more probably as Mughals, as 1,263 of
16 the Mughals of Rawalpindi give Rawal as their clan. There they are said,
17 in addition to their usual pursuits, to recite at the Muharram stories of the
18 doings of Mahomet, accounts of his miracles, and hymns in his praise.
19 The Naths of the higher hills, where the worship of Siva is prevalent,
20 coiTCspond very closely with the Jogis of the plains, though they make little
21 pretence to an ascetic character and live chiefly by growing vegetables ; but
22 they also perform certain semi-sacerdotal function, taking the place of the
23 Acharj of the plains in the funeral ceremonies of the Kanets, and receiving
24 like him the clothes of the deceased. They also consecrate new houses, and
25 purify them when they have been defiled. They now form a true caste,
26 and are not recruited from without. One or more in almost every Nath
27 household has his ears jHerced in honour' of Siva, and is called a Kanphatta
28 Nath. They occupy much the same social position as the Jogi-Rawal of the
29 plains. They are understood to have returned themselves as Jogis and to be
30 included in the figures now under discussion.
31 Of the figures given in Table
32 VIII A, all the Hindus are men
33 returned as Jogis. Of the Musalmans
34 the numbers shown in the margin
35 were returned as Rawals, the remain-
36 der being Jogis.
37 529. The Bahrupia (Caste No. 128). — The Bahrupia is in its origin a
38 purely occupational term ; it is derived from the Sanskrit bahu " many " and
39 rupa "form,'' and denotes an actor, a mimic, or one who assumes many forms
40 or characters. One of their favourite devices is to ask for money, and when it
41 is refused, to ask that it may be given on condition of the Bahrupia succceeding
42 in deceiving the person who refuses it. Some days later the Bahrupia
43 will again visit the house in the disguise of a pedlar, a milkman, or
44 what not, sell his goods without being detected, throw off his disguise, and [P. 291]
45 claim the stipulated reward. They may be dra-wn from any caste, and in
46 Rohtak there are Chuhra Bahrupias. But in some districts a family or colony
47 of Bahrupias has obtained land and settled down on it, and so become a caste
48 as much as any other. Thus there is a Bahrupia family in Pampat who hold
49 a village revenue-free, though these men have apparently returned themselves
50 as Shekhs. It is probable that the figures do not include all who follow the
51 profession of acting in the Panjab, many of them having returned their true
52 Rawals classed as Joois.
53 Jalandbar ,.. 2,842
54 Siilkot
55 . 1,244
56 Hushyarpur ... 2,7S1
57 Lahore
58 .. 1,C08
59 Kangra ... 764
60 Gujrdnwala
61 .. 2,048
62 Amritsar ... 2,325
63 Kapurthala
64 .. 530
65 GiirOaspur „. 3,337
66 Other places
67 .. 434
68 17,853