1 VAGRANT, MENIAL, AND ARTISAN CASTES. 283
2 dialect of their own ; or rather perhaps, a set of slang words and phrases
3 which are common to the criminal classes. In the Panjab the Mina is almost
4 confined to Gurgaon and the neighbouring portions of the Patiala and Nabha
5 States. They are almost all Hindus and belong to the Chankidari section and
6 the Kagot clan (sec furtlicr under Meo, section 4-78).
7 583. The Harni (Caste No. 159). — This again is one of the most criminal
8 castes in the Province, and as will be seen from the figures of Abstract No.
9 •P. 280- 97 on page 312,* a greater number of them are registered under the Criminal
10 ^^ Tribes Act than of any other caste except Sansi. They are found in the
11 districts lying under the hills from Ludhiana to Sialkot, and also in Firozpur
12 and Faridkot. They are said to have been Rajputs driven from Bhatner by
13 famine, who were employed by the Rai of Raikot in Ludhiana for pnrj)0ses
14 of theft and to harass his enemies. They are also said to be Bhils or Gonds
15 and to have come from the Rajpiitana desert. Their chief crimes are burglary,
16 and highway robbery, to effect which they travel in gangs, often under the
17 disguise of carriers with pack-oxen. Their women also wander about as
18 pedlars to pilfer and collect information. They are all returned as Musalman.
19 584. The Bilochi (Caste No. 18).— The Biloch of the frontier has already been
20 described at j)ages 193//'. But there is a small criminal tribe called Bilochi who
21 [P. 314] may be noticed here. They seem to be found chiefly, if not entirely, in Ambala
22 and Karnal, numbering some 1,0IJ0 souls in the former and l.jO in the latter
23 district, inhabiting the banks (lE the Saruswati from Pehoa downwards, and
24 infesting the Chachra or dense dhdk jungle of that neighbourhood. Mr. Stone
25 writes : — " During the rainy season the whole country is inundated for months.
26 " tillage roads are \vashed away or concealed under the luxurious growth of
27 " grass, and dense masses of jungle sluit in the view on every side. No
28 " stranger could possibly penetrate to the Biloch village through such a clueless
29 " maze without a guide. The only road open to the traveller is the raised one
30 " between Thanesar and Pehoa ; the moment he leaves that he is lost. A
31 " more suitable stronghold for a criminal tribe can hardly be imagined. "
32 They are almost certainly of true Biloch origin, and still give their tribal
33 names as Rind, Lashari, Jatoi, and Korai. But they are by their habits
34 quite distinct from both the land-owning Biloch and the camel-driver who is
35 so commonly called Biloch simply because he is a camel- driver (see section
36 fP. 280- 375.) Abstract No. 97 on page 31 2t shows the numbers registered as pro-
37 81 fessioual criminals. They are described as coarse-looking men of a dark colour
38 living in a separate quarter, and with nothing to distinguish them from the
39 scavenger caste except a jirofuslon of stolen ornaments and similar property.
40 They say that their ancestors once lived beyond Kasur in the Lahore district
41 but were driven out on account of their marauding habits. The men still
42 keep camels and cultivate a little land as their ostensible occupation ; but dur-
43 ing a great part of the year they leave the women, who are strictly secluded,
44 at home, and wander about disguised as/aqirs or as butchers in search of
45 sheep for sale, extending their excursions to great distances and apparently
46 to almost all parts of India. Further information will be found in a very
47 int«resting report bv Mr. Stone in Punjab Government Home Proceedings,
48 No. 16 of March 1877.
49 585. The Banga'i. — ^The word Bangali is applied to any native of Bengal,
50 and esi^ecially to the Bengali Baboo of om- offices. The figures given in our
51 tables under Caste No. 168 evidently refer to these men and are not properly