1 VAGRANT, MENIAL, AND ARTISAN CASTES. 331
2 meant by Mr. Anderson as a complete report iipon any section of Kulu society,
3 but were merely hasty notes written in reply to enquiries made by me concem-
4 ing certain specified castes : —
5 " I have said that a Kanet will smoke with a Nath and n-ith a Nai, but in Kulu uo good in-
6 ■' ference can be drawn from the fact that the Tiukka \s conimou. I believe that not many years
7 ■' ago all castes would have smoked from one pipe. It is still not a matter of much importance,
8 ■' and under ordinary circumstances, a Kanet wiU smoke with a Thaw i, a Nath or a Nai, though he
9 <■ might probably, if ta.'ced with doing so, deny it. He would not eat with them. In some places
10 .'as in MonaliKotlii, Kanetssmukc with Dagis, but this is not common in Kulu, though the ex-
11 ,' clusiveness has arisen only within the last few years, as caste distinctions became gradually more
12 c' defined.
13 ■• Then as to the identity of Dagi and Chsnal. In Kulu proper there are no Chanals, that
14 " is, there are none who on "being asked to what castf they belong will answer that they are
15 " Chanals ; but they will describe themselves as Dagi Chanals or Koli Chanals, and men of the
16 " same families as tl'iese Dagi Chanals or Koli Chanals will as often merely describe themselves as
17 " Dagisor Kolis. In Knlu Dagi, Koli, and Chaual mean very nearly the same thing, but the word
18 " Koli is more common in Seoraj and Chanal is scarcely used at all in Kulu ; but Chanals ^are,
19 " I believe, numerous in Mandi, and in the Kangra valley. A Dagi who had been out of the Kulu
20 " valley told me he would call hims If a Dagi in Kulu, a Chanal in Kangra and a Koli in Placb or
21 " Seoraj, otherwise these local castes would not admit him or eat with him. Again and again the
22 " same man has called himself a Dagi and also a Koli. If a Kanet ivishes to be respectful to one
23 " of this low caste he will call him a Koli, if angry with him a Dagi. A Chanal of llandi Territory
24 " will not intermarry with a Kulu Dagi.
25 "The popular explanation of the word Dagi is that it is derived from diig cittle, because they drag
26 " away the carcases of dead cattle and also eat the flesh. If a man says he is a Koli, then a Kanet
27 " turns round on him and asks him whether he does not drag carcasses; and on bis saying he does
28 " the Kanet alleges he is a Dagi, and the would-be Koli consents. Tlicre arc very few in Kulu proper
29 "that abstain from touching the dead. There are more in Seora;], but they admit they are called
30 '• either Dagis or Kolis, and that whether they obtain from touching carcasses or not, all eat, drink
31 " and intermarry ou equal terms. It is a mere piece of affectation for a man who does not touch
32 " the dead to say he will not intermarry with the family of a man who is not so fastidious. This
33 " is a social distinction, and probably also indicates more or less the wealth of the individual who
34 " will not touch the dead.
35 " From the natural evolution of caste distinctions in this direction, I would reason that once
36 " aU the lower castes in Kulu ate the flesh of cattle, but as Hindu ideas got a firmer footing, the
37 " better off refrained and applied to themselves the name of Koli. Popular tradition seems how-
38 " ever to go in the opposite direction, for according to it the Kolis came from Hindustan and
39 " gradually tell to their present low position. The real Koli, or as he is called iu Kulu the
40 " Sai-hcha Koli, is found in Kotlehr, Lambagraon, &c., of Kangra proper. There the caste is also
41 " very low, but tradition ascribes to it a much higher posit'on than it now holds. The Kolis of
42 " Kaiigra will not have intercourse with the Kolis of Kulu ou equal terms ; the latter admit
43 " their inferiority and ascribe it to their being defiled by touching flesh. But it is the same with
44 " Brahmans of the plains and of the hills ; they will not intermarry.
45 " I am not aware what position the Kolis of Kangra hold to the Chanals of Kangra, but 1
46 " believe they are considered inferior to them, and that tliey will not eat together nor interniarry.
47 " The Chanals of Kangra will not, I understand, touch dead cattle, and will not mix on
48 " equal terms with those that do. There are some Chanals iu Outer Seoraj who are considered
49 " inferior to the Kolis there.
50 " A Chamar in Seoraj will call himself a Dagi, and men calling themselves Kolis said they
51 " would eat and drink with him. Tliey said ho was a Chamar merely because he made shoes,
52 " or worked in leather. Most Dagis in Kulu proper will not cat with Chamars, but in some places
53 " they will. It depends on what has been the custom of the families.
54 " The Kolis of Nirmand keep themselves separate from the Dagis iu that direction, i hat is
55 €' from those that touch dead cattle. The reason is that they are more or less under the influence
56 i' of the Brahmins who form a large part of the population of that village. These Kolis of Nir-
57 •' mand will however intermarry with a family of Kolis that lives at a distance in Inner Seoraj.
58 «' This latter famdy has for some generations taken to turning in wood, and its members are called
59 '■ Kharadis as well as Kolis. They do not touch carcasses, probably because they have a profession
60 «' of their own and are richer ; but they call themselves Kolis or Dagis and intermarry on equal terms
61 <' with the Kolis round them. This illustrates the unsettled state of these low caste , and also the
62 «' gradual advance of Hindu ideas.
63 " In Kulu there is not much difference between the Koli, the Dagi, and the Chanal, but they
64 " are not admitted to be the same as the Kolis and Chanals of Kangra.