1 •l&i
2 PANJAB CASTES.
3 Drew describes them as " large maJc and rolnist and of a really fine cast
4 "of feature," and ranks tliem as "the iinest race on the whole Continent
5 " of India." But their history is, at any rate in recent times^ one of the
6 most grievous suffering and oppression j and they are cowards, liars, and
7 withal quarrelsome, though at the same time keen-witted, cheerful and
8 humorous. A good account of them will be found in Drew^s Jummoo and
9 Kashmir. The Chibhalis are for the most part Musalmiin llajputs, and
10 differ from the Dogras only in religion, and perhaps in clan.
11 The Kashmiris of the Panjal) may he broadly divided into three classes.
12 Pu'st the great Kashmiri colonics of Ludhiana and Araritsur, where there
13 are nearly 35,U00 Kashmiris permanently settled and engaged for the most
14 part in weaving shawls and similar line fabrics. These men are cliicHy
15 true Kashmiris. Secondly, the recent immigrants driven from Kashmi'i- by
16 the late famine into our sub-montane districts, or attracted by the special
17 demand for labour in the Salt-range Tract and upper frontier which was
18 created by works in connection with the Kabul campaign. It is impossi-
19 ble to say how many of these men are Chibhalis and how many Kash-
20 miris. Thii-dly, the Chibhalis who have crossed the border and settled
21 in our territories in the ordinary course of affairs. These men are pro-
22 bablj' confined to Giijrat and the trans-Salt range Tract. Besides those
23 who are returned as Kashmiris, I find no fewer than 7,515 persons returned
24 as Kashmiri Jats, of whom 1,1 52 are in Lahore and 5,081 in Grujranwala.
25 Those are probably Kashmiris who have settled and taken to cultivation.
26 The Kashmiri weavers of Amritsar are described as " litigious, deceitful,
27 "and cowardly, while their habits are so unclean that the quarter of the
28 "city which they Inhabit Is a constant source of danger from its liability to
29 "epidemic disease.^'' The Kashmiris
30 have returned numerous sub-divi-
31 sions, of which the few largest are
32 shown in the margin. Their dis-
33 tribution does not appear to follow
34 anj' rule ; and it is hardly worth
35 while giving detailed figm'cs in this
36 place. The Kashmiris of our cities
37 are as a rule miserably poor.
38 The Dogra (Caste No. 181). — The Dogras are Eajputs who inhabit
39 Jamniu, and have returned themselves as such to the number of 1,415 scattered
40 about the Province, the largest number in one district being 391 in Rawalpindi.
41 Thus our separate tigures mean little, and might well have been included with
42 Rajputs. The word Dogra, however, is comiauuly used for any inhabitant
43 of Jammu whatever be his caste, Dogar being another word for the Jammu
44 territory. Dogras are probably present in the Panjab as settlers from across
45 the border, as famine fugitives, and in the Dogra regiments of oui- army. I
46 believe the'r Rajput origin is undoubted ; but that it Is equally certaiiv that
47 they are not pure Riijjnits.
48 559. The Gurkha, Parsi, and Bangali (Caste Nos, 148, 184, and 168).—
49 The Gurkhas are the ruling and military race of Nejsal, and are only found in
50 the Panjab as members of our Gurkha regiments. They are of mixed Aryan
51 and Turanian blood, and an admirable and interesting account of them will be
52 found iu that one of Hodgson's Essnji which deals with the military tribes
53 Kashmiei Teibes.
54 1. Bat
55 2. Lun
56 3. D£r
57 4. W£in
58 5. Mir
59 ... 24,463
60 ... 4,848
61 ... 16,215
62 ... 7,419
63 . . 19 855
64 6. Shekb .
65 7. Batti .
66 8. Mahar .
67 9. Warde .
68 10. Man .
69 .. 14,90 i!
70 .. 14,725
71 .. 3,063
72 .. 4,863
73 .. 2,656
74 558.
75 [P. 303]