1 EELIGIOUS, PEOFESSIONAL AND OTHER CASTES. 237
2 caste and not their occupation. On the other hand, !t is certain that the
3 retm-ns for Bahrupias in Sialkot and Gujrat do not refer at all to what I here
4 call Bahrupias^ bnt are Mahtams, who are commonly known as Bahrupias
5 in those districts — see section 494 on Mahtams. Tlie exclusion of these
6 fig'ui-es reduces the total number of Bahrupias in the Province to 386, and I
7 have altered the figures of Abstract No. 90 accordingly. The Bahrupias of
8 Gui'daspur are said to work in cane and bamboo.
9 530. The Bhand (Caste No 141).— The Bhiind or Naqqal is the story-teller,
10 joker, and buffoon, and is often also called Basha. The name comes from the
11 Hindi Bhdnda "buffooning." He is separate fi'om and of a lower pro-
12 fessional status than the Bahrupia. Both are commonly kept by Rajas and
13 other wealthy men like the jester of the early English noble, but both also
14 wander about the country and perform to street audii nces. The Bhand is
15 not a true caste any more than the Bahrupia, and I understand that they are
16 often Mirasis by caste and probably have'in many cases so retvmied themselves.
17 Elliott seems to imply that Bahrupia is a caste and Bhand an occupation ; but
18 the former statement is certainly not true in the Panjiib. The entries under
19 this head include both Basha and Naqqal.
20 MERCANTILE AND SHOP-KEEPING CASTES.
21 531. Merchants and Shop-keepers. — The group of mercantile castes for
22 which the figiu-es will be found in Abstract No. 91 on the next page* practi-
23 cally hold the whole commerce of the Panjab in their hands. They do not
24 engage in the carrying trade, nor do they traffic in cattle ; being for the most
25 part Hindus they will not sell liquor or meat ; and being of fair social
26 standing they do not sell vegetables ; but with these exceptions almost the
27 whole of the mercantile and commercial ti-ansactions of the Province,
28 excepting as a general rule petty hawking and pedling, are conducted by one
29 or other of the castes which I have included in this abstract. They may be
30 divided into five groups, the first consisting of Banyas, Dhunsars, Bohras,
31 and Pahari iMahajans ; the second of Suds and Bhabras ; the third of Khatris,
32 KhakhaSj and Bhatias ; the fourth of Aroras ; and the fifth of Khojahs and
33 Parachas.
34 The territorial distribution of these groups is very M'ell marked. The first
35 or Banya group is almost confined to the eastern and south-eastern divisions of
36 Dehli, Hissar, and Ambala, and to the central Native States, though a few of
37 them have spread along the north of the Eastern Plains and into the Hill
38 States. West of Lahore they are practically unknown. The second or Sud
39 and Bhabra group is found only in the districts that lie under the hills on the
40 northern border of the Province fi-om Ambala to Rawalpindi. The third or
41 Khatri group constitutes a large proportion of the mercantile classes of all the
42 centre and, excluding the frontier, of the north-west of the Province, being
43 most numerous in the .Jalandhar, Amritsar, Lahore, and Rawalpindi divisions.
44 The fourth or Arora group have the JIultau and Derajat divisions and Baha-
45 walpur almost to themselves, extending also into Peshawar and Kohat, and
46 crossing the Satluj in Sirsa to meet the Banya group of the east. Finally, the
47 fifth or Mahomedan group is confined to the central and western districts and
48 the Salt-range Tract.
49 On the whole this class constitutes 7 percent, of the population of the
50 Province. But in the districts of the IMultan and Derajat di^Tsions and in
51 Bahawalpui- the proportion rises to from 11 to 17 per cent. This however is