1 250 PANJAB CASTES.
2 Kapur Cliand, three Khati'is who wont to Dolili in attoiidauce npnn one of Akbav's liajjiut wives,
3 and who, thus separated from tlie rest of tbo custe, m;irried only ^vithin eiich other's finiilie'*.
4 But tliese are fahles, for tlic same division into Haliri and Dunjahi appears anionfr tlie Brolimaiis
5 of the Western Plain-;. The number of clans is enormous. The most important in point of
6 social rank are the Marhotra or Malira, the Klianua, (lie Kayiur, and tlie Sctli, tlio first three of
7 whicli are said (o he called after (he names of the tlireo men just mentioned, while Seth is ii fctrni now
8 used for any rich haulier. These four clans belong to the IVihri section of the easle, and con-
9 stitute the Dhaighar and Charzati divisions which stand highest of all in the social scale. The
10 origin of the term Dhai-:;har lies in the fact that the fa-nilies "of that division exclude, not only |
11 the father's clan, bnt also such families of the mother's clan as are closely connected with her ; '
12 and thus reduce the clans available for intermarriage to two and a balf. I should say that each
13 division will take wives from the one below it, tlnugli it will not give its daughters to it in
14 marriage. The liedi and Sodhi clans belong to the Bun.iuhi tribe, and owe most of tlieir in-
15 fluence and importance to the fact that I'.aba Nanak belonged to the former and Gnru Ram Das
16 and Guru Hari,'ovind to the latter. Tlicy are commonly said to be tbc descendauts of these
17 men, but this appears to be a mistake, tlie two clans dating from long before Baba Xauak. The
18 Sodhis played an important part during the Sikh rule. They claim descent from Sodhi Kai,
19 son of Kal Rai Kiug of Lahore, and the Bedis from Kalpat Uai, "brother of Kill Rai and King of
20 Kasiir, who being deprived of his kingdom by bis nephew, studied the Veda> ai. Benares and
21 was known as Vcdi. The modern head-quarters of the Bedis is at Pera Nanak in Gurdas- [P. 297]
22 pur where Baba Nanak settled and died, and of the Sodhis at Anandpur iu Hushyarpur, which
23 is also the great centre of the Nihang devotees.
24 541. The Khakha (Caste No. 179).— Khakba is said to be a not un-
25 common eijithet to ajiply to any petty Kbatri trader. But tlie people to wboni
26 onr figures refer are now sufficiently distinct^ tbougb tbeir Kbatri origin is, I
27 believe, undoubted. Tbey are in fact converted Kbatris, and are found in
28 greatest numbers in tbe Kasbmir lillls lying along tbe left bank of tbe
29 Jablam ; whence a few have made their way into Hazara and Eawalpindi.
30 Sir George Campbell calls them " a curiously handsome peojile."
31 542. The Bhatia (Caste No. 69).— Tbe Bhatias are a class of Rajputs,
32 originally coming from Bhatner, Jaisalmer, and the Hajputana desert, who
33 have taken to commercial pursuits. The name would seem to show that they
34 were Bbatis (called Bhatti in the Panjab) ; but be that as it may, their Rajput
35 origin appears to be unquestioned. They are uumeroiis in Sindb and Gujarat
36 where they appear to form the leading mercantile element, and to hold the
37 place which the Ai-oras occupy higher up the Indus. They have spread into
38 the Panjab along the lower valleys of the Indus and Satluj, and up the whole
39 length of the Chenab as high as its debouchure into the plains, being indeed
40 most numerous in Siiilkot and Giijrat. In this Province however they
41 occupy an inferior position, both in a social and in a mercantile sense. They
42 stand distinctly below the Kbatri anil perhaps below the Ai'ora, and are for
43 tbc most part engaged in petty shop-keeping, though the Bhtitias of Derah
44 Ismail Khan are desc
45 mercantile communi
46 Jablam they are salt
47 ghar, Charzati, &c. They are very strict Hindus ; far naore so than the other
48 trading classes of_ the Western Panjab ; and eschew meat and liquor. They
49 do not practise widow-marriage.
50 543. The Arora (Caste No. 10).— Tbe Arora, or Rora as he is often called,
51 is the trader /;«;• erccHence of the Jatki-speaking or south-western portion of
52 Panjab, that is to say of the lower valleys of our five rivers ; while higher up
53 tbeir courses be shares that position with the Kbatri. East of the upper
54 Satluj he is only found in tbe immediate neighbourhood of the river. More
55 than half the Aroras of the Panjab dwell iu the Multan and Derajat divisions.
56 Like the Kbatri, and unlike the Banya, he is no mere trader ; but his social