1 VAGRANT, MENIAL, AND ARTISAN CASTES. 289
2 cularly make the grass brushes used by -weavers.' They are said to divide their
3 girls into two classes ; one they many themselves, and them they do not prosti-
4 tute ; the other they keep for purposes of prostitution. The Jallads of Ambala
5 are said to be the descendants of a Kanjar family who were attached to the
6 Dehli Court as executioners, and who, their duty being to flog, mutilate, and
7 execute, were called Jallad or " skinners," fi'om jild, " skin." The Kanjars
8 appear to be of a higher status than the Nat, though they are necessarily
9 outcasts. They worship Mata, whom they also call Kali Mai ; but whether
10 they refer to Kali Devi or to Sitala does not appear ; most probably to the
11 former. They also reverence Giiga Pir. Dehli is said to be the Panjab head-
12 quarters of the tribe. But the word Kan jar seems to be used in a very loose
13 manner ; it is by no means certain that these Kanjai'S are not merely a Bawaria
14 tribe ; and it is just possible that they have received their name fi-om their
15 habit of prostituting their daughters, fi-om the Panjabi word Kanjar. The
16 words Kanjar and Bangali also seem often to be used as synonymous. A good
17 deal of information regarding the Kanjars will be found in No. X of 1866 of
18 the Selected Cases of the Panjab Police. In that pamphlet they are called
19 Bawarias. I should probably have done better had I grouped Kanjar with
20 Bawaria, and not with Nat and Perna.
21 591. The Hesi (Caste No. 167). — The Hesi appears to share with the
22 Lobar the distinction of being the only castes recognised among the Buddhists
23 of Spiti, the other classes of that society eating together and intermarrying
24 freely, but excluding these two from social intercourse. The Hesis of Spiti,
25 however, or rather the Bedas as they are there called, the two names referring
26 to the same people, do not appear to have i-eturned themselves as of that caste,
27 as all our Hesis are Hindus, wliereas all the people of Spiti except two are
28 returned as Buddhists.
29 . 317] The Hesis are the wandering minsti-els of the higher Himalayan valleys.
30 " The men play the pipes and kettle-drum, while the women dance and sing
31 " and play the tambourine. They are (in Lahul and Sjjiti) the only class that
32 " owns no land. ' The Beda no land and the dog no load ' is a proverbial
33 "saying." He is called "the 18th caste," or the odd caste which is not
34 required, for no one will cat from the hands of a Hesi. Yet he has his
35 inferiors for he himself will not eat from the hands of a Lobar or of a
36 Nath, the Kulu equivalent for Jogi. He is ordinarily a beggar, but some-
37 times engages in petty trade ; and to call a transaction "aHesi's bargain"
38 is to imply that it is mean and paltry. The Hesi or Hensi, as the word is
39 sometimes spelt, is found in Kangra, Mandi, and Suket. To the Hgures of
40 Table VIII A should be added 201 Hesis in Suket who were left out by
41 mistake, and are shown under Caste No. 208, Table VIII B.
42 592. The Garris (Caste No. 177).— The Garris are returned in Sialkot
43 only. They are said to be a poor caste of strolling actors and mountebanks,
44 mostly Hindu, who have their head-quarters in Jammu, but are not unfi'e-
45 quently found in the Baijwat or plain country under the Jammu hills.
46 593. The Qalandari (Caste No. 121).— The Qalandari is the Kalender
47 of the Arahian Nights. He is properly a holy Mahomedan ascetic who
48 abandons the world and wanders about with shaven head and beard. But the
49 • The Kucliband, who make these brnshes, are said to be a section of the Kanjars wlio hare
50 given up proBtitutlon, form a separate guild, and will not marry with the other sections of the
51 tribe.