1 VAGRANT, MENIAL, AND ARTISAN CASTES.
2 301
3 name of Mochi. The Mochi is proverbially unpunctual in rendering service,
4 and there is a saying, " The Mochi's to-inoiTOW never comes. " To tlie figures
5 for Mochis must be added those who are shown in Abstract No. 72 (page
6 224)*) as ha^^ng returned themselves as Jats.
7 608, Divisions of ChamarS and Mochis. -The tribes of the CliamSr caste are iunumeralile,
8 and Bome of them very large. It does not
9 seem worth while to give any tabular state>
10 mcnt, as to include anything like even half
11 the total number a very long li~t would have
12 to be shown. But it is worth while compar-
13 ing the figures for Chamars and lIochLs for
14 a few of the largest tribes. Thi^* is done in
15 the margin. Only the first seven tribes are
16 found in any numbers among the Chamars of
17 the Dehli and Hissar divisions. Xos. 4 and 7
18 are the principal ones of the Ambala division
19 while these two last, together with Nos. 8 to
20 18, are found in the Jalandliar division.
21 Among the Mochis the Bhatti and Chauhan
22 tribes are the most numerous.
23 It is obvious that many of these tribal
24 names are merely talcen from the dominant
25 race in whose service the tribe was formed.
26 Eanidasia is of course a religious and not a
27 tribal division ; and doubtless many of the
28 sub-divisions returned are merely clans, and
29 included in the larger tribes. This last point
30 will be shown in the detailed tables. But it
31 appears that the Cliamars of the Eastern
32 Panjab may be broadly divided into five great
33 sections, the Jatia, the Raidasi. the Chamar,
34 the Chandar, and the Golia or Eaigar, no one
35 of which intermarries with the others. The
36 Jatia are found in greatest numbers al out the
37 neighbourhood of Debli and Gurgaon. They wcrt in horse and camel hides, which are an abomi-
38 Lation to the Chandar, probably as having the footuncloven ; and are perhaps named from the word
39 Jat (hard t), a camel-grazier. " On the other hand, they are said to obtain the services of Gaur
40 Brahmans, which wonld put them above all other Chamars, who have to be content with the minis-
41 trations of the outcast Chamarwa Brahman. Tlie Raidasi or Rabdasi Chamars are named after Rai
42 Das Bbagat, himself a Chamar, a contemporary of Kabir, and like him a disciple of Ramar.and.
43 They are the prevalent trihe in Karndl and the neighbourhood. The Golia is the lowest of all the
44 sections ; and indeed the word Golia is the name of a section ot many of the menial castes in the Eas-
45 tern Panjab, and in almost all cases carries with it an inferior standing in the caste. The Chamar
46 comes between the .Jatia and the Golia, and is the prevalent tribe further west, about Jalandhar
47 andLudhiana. The Chandar is the highest of all, and is said in Dehli to trace its origin from
48 Benares, probably from some association with Kabi'r. It is the principal section in Hisiar and
49 Sirsa. Thev do not tan, leaving that to the Chamrangs and Khatiks, and working only in
50 ready prepared leather. There are doubtless similar tribal distinctions among the Chamars of the
51 central districts ; but I have no information regarding them.
52 609. The Chamrang (Caste No. 113).— Chamrang is probably a pni-ely
53 occupational term, Chanirangs being Chamars by caste. The fignres of Table
54 VIII A however would seem to show that Chamrang and Khatik have been
55 confused in our returns, Chamrang being returned in largest numbers for the
56 Amritsar division, for which no Khatiks are shown. The Chamrang does not
57 stain or dve leather, but only tans it, r.mgna, as applied to leather, meaning
58 nothing imore than to " tan. " He tans ox and buffalo hides only, and
59 does not work in the leather which he tans. (See further Khatik, section
60 602.)
61 610. The Dabgar (Caste No 169).— The Dabgar is the man who makes
62 the raw hide jars in which oil and ghi arc earned and stored. He is said to
63 be a separate caste in the North-West Provinces ; but the word implies, at
64 Chamab and Mochi
65 TEIBES.
66 Tbibe.
67 Chamars.
68 Mochis.
69 1. Jatia
70 53,088
71 2. Raidasi
72 61,616
73 3. Chandar
74 32,061
75 4. Chauhan
76 21,390
77 12il8S
78 5. Chamar
79 7,893
80 6. Golia
81 1,178
82 7. Bhatti
83 16,286
84 40,286
85 8. Mahmi
86 7,340
87 819
88 9. Phiindwal
89 5.328
90 10. Jal
91 8,326
92 '3,137
93 11. Batoi
94 19,096
95 12. Badhan
96 13,753
97 'i,167
98 13. Sindhu
99 13,889
100 3.426
101 14. Hi'r
102 12,860
103 767
104 15. Bains
105 6,591
106 442
107 16. Ghameri
108 2,715
109 17. Eamdasia
110 28,634
111 18. Bhiiti
112 648
113 '2,770
114 19. Kathana
115 3,585