1 VAGRANT, MENIAL, AND ARTISAN CASTES. 297
2 The group forms aa exceedingly large proportion of the population in the
3 eastern clistriL-ts and Stales and under the hills, where the Chamai" is the
4 field-labourer of the villages. But in the central districts his place in this
5 respect is taken, as already remarked, by the Chuhra. In the west, too, the
6 leather-worker, like all other occupational castes, is much less numerous than
7 in the east. The weaver class, on the other hand, is naturally least numerous
8 in the eastern districts where much of the weaving is done by the leather-
9 working castes.
10 604. The Chamar (Caste No 5).— The Chamar is the tanner and leather-
11 worker of North-Western India, and in the western parts of the Panjab he
12 is called Mochi whenever he is, as he generally is, a Musalman, the caste
13 being one and the same. The name Chamar is derived from the Sanskrit
14 Charmakdra or " or worker in hides." But in the east of the Province he
15 is far more than a leather-worker. He is the general cooUe and field laboiu'er
16 of the villages ; and a Chamar, if asked his caste by an Englishman at any
17 rate, will answer " Coolie" as often as " Chamai-." ' They do all the begcir,
18 or such work as cutting grass, carrying wood and bundles, acting as watchmen,
19 and the hke ; and they plaster the houses with mud when they need it.
20 They take the hides of all dead cattle and the flesh of all cloven-footed
21 animals, that of such as do not divide the hoof going to Chuhras. They
22 make and mend shoes, thongs for the cart, and whijis and other leather work ;
23 and aliove all they do an immense deal of hard work in the fields, each family
24 supplying each cultivating association with the continuous labour of a certain
25 number of hands. All this they do as village menials, receiving fixed
26 customary dues in the shape of a share of the produce of the fields. In the
27 east and southeast of the Panjab the village Chamars also do a great deal of
28 weaving, which however is paid for separately. The Chamars stand far
29 above the Chuhras in social position, and some of their tribes are almost
30 accepted as Hindus. Their religion is sketched in section 294. They are
31 generally dark in colour, and are almost certainly of aboriginal origin though
32 here again then- numbers have perhaps been swollen by members of other
33 and higher castes who have fallen or been degraded. The people say : " Do
34 "not cross the ferry with a black Brahman or a fair Chamar," one being as
35 imusual as the other. Then- women are celebrated for beauty, and loss of
36 caste is often attributed to too great partiality for a Chamarni. Sherriug
37 has a long discpiisitiou on the Chamar caste, which appears to be much more
38 extensive and to include much more varied tribes in Hindustan than in the
39 Panjab.
40 605. Miscellaneous entries classed
41 Rabtia ... 572 [ Bilai ... 423 ! as Chamars.— Under the liead Chamar,
42 I have included the schedule entnes
43 liunia ... 512 Dhed ... 242
44 shown in the margin.
45 The Dhed appears to be a separate caste in the Central Provinces
46 though closely allied with the Chamar. But in the Panjab, as also I under-
47 stand in the Central Provinces, the word is often used for any " low fellow,"
48 and is especially applied to a Chamai-.
49 1 Why is a Chamar always addressed with " Oh Chamar ke " instead of " Oh Chamar," as
50 any other caste would be ?