1 268 PANJAB CASTES.
2 a gi'oup of these tribes who arc distinctly water-hunters ; who catch, not
3 deer and jackals, but water fowl, fish, and crocodiles or tortoises, who [P. 306]
4 live in the fens or on the river-banks, weave huts for themselves fi-om
5 the pliant withies of the water-loving shrubs, and make twine and rope
6 for their nets from the riverside grasses. Such are the Kehal, the Mor,
7 the Jhabel. And on giving up eating crocodiles and tortoises and con-
8 fining themselves to fish, these men are as it were received into society,
9 as is the case with the Kehals. The Jhabels again have advanced a
10 stt'p further, and are a respectable class of boatmen and fishermen. Now
11 the Jhiuwar, Kahar, and ]MAchhi caste are the basket-makers, boatmen,
12 fishermen, and water-earners, and among the Musalmiins the cooks of
13 country. Is it not possible that they may be but a step, a long one
14 perhaps, in advance of the Jhabel ? 'l find that in the hills, where Hindu
15 customs ha\c proTial)ly preserved their primitive integrity most completely,
16 Brahmans will drink from the hands of very many people fi-om whose
17 hands they will not eat; and the Sanskrit Scriptures make the fisher-
18 man the descendant of a Siidi'a woman by a Brahman father. It is
19 stated that the Rilmdasia or Sikh Chamiirs have taken largely to the
20 occupation _ of "■ Kahars or bearers," though this may not and probably
21 does not include water-canying. The series of steps is not so close as
22 in the former case ; but I think that the suggestion is worthy of further
23 examination.
24 , 567. Effect of religion upon occupation.— I have pointed out that with
25 the rise in the social scale, the original religion would be gradually modi-
26 fied so as to bring it more into accord with the religion of the respect-
27 able classes. As a fact it is curious how generally the observances, if
28 not the actual religion of these lower menials, follow those of the villagers
29 to whom they are attached. Chuhi-as and the like will bury their' dead
30 m a Musalman and burn them in a Hindu village, though not rccog'-
31 nised by their masters as either Hindu or Musalman. But it is not un-
32 commonly the case that the open adoption of a definite faith, the sub-
33 stitution _ of Islam or Sikhism for that half-Hindu half -aboriginal religion
34 which distinguishes most of these outcast classes, is the first step made
35 in their upward struggle; and it is very commonly accompanied by the
36 abandonment of the old occupation for that which stands next higher in
37 the scale. The scavenger on becoming a Musalman will refuse to^remove
38 night soil, and on becoming a Sikh will take to tanning and leather-
39 working. The tanner and leather-worker on becoming a Musalman will give
40 up tanning, and on taking the Sikh jHihul will turn his hand to the loom,
41 and so forth. I quote a very interesting note on this subject by Sai'dar
42 Gurdial Singh, one of our Native Civilians :-
43 ' bamer in tlie way of reform presented by tbc difficulty of tbe language (Sanskrit) tlu-ongb
44 ^•wbuhtbe Brabmins taught their system of religion. Amoncr others was Kabi'r a Julaba,
45 •badbna a Kasai, 2S'am Deo a Chlu'mba. and Ravi Das a Cbamar. Their writin-'; have
46 ^'^ been quoted in the Adi Granth, tbe Sikh scriptures. One of the reforms contemplated and
47 «^'fTi! ■'' '■'""'"''1 °"' ^y Sikhism was tbe abolition of caste system and opening the study
48 ^ ot Iheology and the scnptui-os (Hindu) to every cla^s, even the Chuhras and Cbamar< who were
49 'mentioned in Dbarm Shastras as having no adhikar.i Taking advantage of this, some of the
50 'The word adhikar means "fitness"; and those castes were said to liave no adhikar who
51 were not fit to listen to the Hindu Scriptures.