1 308
2 PANJAB CASTES.
3 almost without exception, a Jhinwar by caste ; and in many districts those who
4 have retnrned themselves as Bhatyilras have l^een classed either as Jhinwar or
5 as Machhi, so that our figures do not completely represent the entries in the [P. 326]
6 schedules. They are said to be divided in the North-West Provinces at any
7 rate into two classes, Shcrshtihi and Salimshahi, tlie women of the former wear-
8 ing petticoats and of the latter drawers. They date the di\asion from the time
9 of Sultan Shcr Shah and his son Salim Shah. Now that the railway has
10 diminished theii- trade, the Bhatyaras are said to have taken to letting out
11 yeMas and ponies for hire; and in the Derajiit they are said to be the donkey-
12 keepers of the district and to do petty carriage. This would connect them
13 with the kiln rather than with the oven. In any case the name appears to
14 be purely an occupational one, derived fi'om bliatti, an oven or kiln ; but like
15 so many occupational guilds, tlie Bhatyaras appear in some parts to marry
16 only among those following the same avocation.' The same may be said of
17 the Bharbhiinja, who is as his name implies a grain-parcher. He too is almost
18 always a Jhinwai', but a small section of the Bharbhunjas are Kayaths. He
19 does not appear to occur as a separate class in the west of the Province,
20 where probably the grain parching is done at the public oven of the Jhinwar
21 or Machhi. The Bharbhiinja is also occasionally called Bhojwa, and on the
22 Indus Chatari.
23 621. The Mallah and Mohana (Caste No. 42).— The Mallah is the boat-
24 man of the Pan jab, and is naturally found in largest numljers in those
25 districts which include the greatest length of navigable river. It appears
26 fi-om Abstract No. 72 (page 23i*) that on tlie Indus he has often returned ♦p ^gg.
27 himself as Jat. He is, I believe, almost invariably a Jhinwar by caste, and io7.
28 very generally a MusalmSn by religion ; though Mr. Wilson lielieves that in
29 Sirsa most of the Mallahs on tlie Satluj are by caste Jhabel q. v. He gene-
30 rally combines with his special work
31 of boat management some other of
32 the ordinary occupations of his caste,
33 such as fishing or growing water-
34 nuts ; but he is not a village menial.
35 Under the head Mallah have been
36 included those returning themselves
37 as Mohana, Tara, or Dren, the
38 figures for which entries are given
39 on the margin. In Lahore and
40 Peshawar no separate returns were
41 made for Mohana. The Mohana is
42 said to be the fisherman of Sindh ;
43 but in the Pan jab he is at least as
44 much a boatman as a fisherman.
45 The word in Sanski-it means an
46 estuary or confluence of waters. The Dren and Taru are found in the hills
47 only, where they carry travellers across the rapid mountain torrents on
48 inflated hides. The former ai'c said to be IMusalman and the latter Hindu.
49 The word dren appears originally to mean the buffalo hide upon which the
50 transit is made. In the Hill States 55 men returned as Daryai have also
51 been included. Broadly speaking, it may perhaj^s be said that the Jhinwar
52 ' It is noticeable that all those retorned as Bhatyara are Mnsalman ; probably because must
53 Hindus, in the east of the Panjdb at least, will not eat bread made and cooked by a Jhinwar,
54 Classed as Mallah.
55 DrrisioN.
56 Mohana.
57 Tara.
58 Dren.
59 Hushyarpnr
60 69
61 Kangra
62 145
63 2,151
64 Hill States
65 ...
66 5
67 73
68 Jahlam ...
69 979
70 ...
71 Multan
72 4,750
73 Jhang
74 677
75 Mnzaffargarh
76 6,641
77 ...
78 Derah Ismail Khan
79 3,176
80 ...
81 DerahGhazi Khan
82 1,101
83 ...
84 Bannu
85 1,375
86 Bahawalpur
87 9,180
88 M