1 VAGRANT, MENIAL, AND ARTISAN CASTES. 277
2 men who carry mereliandise on pack animals are known as Thoris ; and it is
3 probable that the Thoris returned for the Hill States are nothing more than
4 persons who follow this occupation, for it is improbable that the Aheri of Raj-
5 piitiina should be found in the Simla hills, and the word seems to be applied
6 to anybody who carries on beasts of burden without regard to caste. Still,
7 the Thoris do seem to have a connection with the Banjaras. They are said by
8 Tod to be carriers in the Rajpiitiina deserts ; and the headmen of both Thoris
9 and Banjaras are called Naik. The question needs further examination. It
10 is not at all impossible that the Thoris may be allied to or identical with the
11 lower class of Banjaras, while the Aheris are true hunters. But in the Panjab
12 plains the two words seem to be used indifferently, and I shall consider them
13 as synonymous for the present. Mr. Wilson says that an Aheri is called Naik
14 as a term of honour, and Thori as a term of contempt.
15 The Aheris or Heris or Thoris are l^y heredity hunters and fowlers, and
16 Sir Henry Elliott says that they have proceeded fi'om the Dhanaks, though
17 they do not eat dead carcasses as the Dhanaks do. Their name is said to
18 signify " cowherd," from her, a herd of cattle. They are vagrant in then-
19 habits, Ijut not uufrequently settle down in villages where they find employ-
20 ment. They catch and eat all sorts of wild animals, pure and impure, and
21 work in reeds and grass. In addition to these occupations they work in the
22 fields, and especially move about in gangs at harvest time in search of em-
23 ployment as reapers ; and they cut wood and grass and work as general
24 labourers, and on roads and other earthworks. In Sirsa they occasionally
25 cultivate, while in Karual they often make saltpetre, and in Rajputiina they
26 are employed as out-door servants, and even as musicians. Their home is Raj-
27 putana, and especially Jodhpur and the prairies of Bikaner, and they are found
28 in the Panjab only in Dehli and Ilissilr divisions, Jind, and Patiiila. In ap-
29 pearance and physic[ue they resemble the Bawaria just described ; but they have
30 no special dialect of their own. A few in the Sikh States are returned as Sikhs ;
31 but the remainder are Hindus. They are considered outcasts, and made to live
32 beyond the villag-e ditch. They do not keep donkeys nor eat beef or carrion, and
33 they worship the ordinary village deities, but especially Biibaji of Kohmand in
34 Jodhpur and Khv^trpiil of Jodpur. The Chamarwa Brahmans otiiciate at their
35 marriages and on like occasions. They burn their dead and send the ashes to
36 the Ganges. Mr. Christie says " What l)eef is to the Hindu and pork to the
37 Musalman, horse-flesh is to the Aheri." They have clans with Rajput names,
38 all of which intermarry one with another. They are said in some parts to be
39 addicted to thieving ; but this is not their general character.
40 [P 311] S'^'^' '^^^ Sansi (Caste No. 72). — The Sinsis are the vagrants of the centre
41 of the Panjab, as the Aheris are of its south eastern portions. They are most
42 numerous in the Lahore and Amritsar divisions, and are also found in consider-
43 able numbers in Ludhiana, Karual and Gujrat. They trace then- origin from
44 Marwar and Ajmer where they ai'e still very numerous. They are essentially
45 a wandering tribe, seldom or never settling for long in any one place. They are
46 great hunters, catching and eating all sorts of wild animals, botlv clean and
47 unclean, and eating carrion. They keep sheep, goats, pigs and donkeys, work
48 in grass and straw and reeds, and beg ; and their women very commonly
49 dance and sing and iirostitute themselves. They have some cuiious connection
50 with the Jat tribes of the Central Panjab, to most of whom they are the
51 hereditary genealogists or bards ; and even in Rajputana they commonly call
52 themselves bhart or " bards." They are said also to act as genealogists t;o the