1 334 PANJAB CASTES.
2 large numbers in the sub-montane districts of Husbyarpur and Gurdaspux.
3 Like the Cbubi'a of the plains he is something more than a scavenger ; but
4 whereas the Chuhra works chiefly in grass, the Diimna adds to this occupation
5 the trade of working in bamboo, a material not available to the Chuhra. He
6 makes sieves, winnowing pans, fans, matting, grass rope and string, and
7 generally all the vessels, baskets, screens, fui-niture, and other articles which
8 are ordinarily made of bamboo. When he confines himself to this sort of work
9 and gives up seavengering, he appears to be called Bhanjra, at any rate in the
10 lower hills, and occasionally Sarial ; and I have included 261 Bhanjras and 31
11 Sariiils in my figures. In the Jalandhar division Bhanjras were not returned
12 separately from Duinnas. The Dumna appears hardly ever to become Musal-
13 man or Sikh, and is classed as Hindu, though being an outcast he is not allow-
14 ed to draw water fi'om wells used by the ordinary Hindu population.
15 The Diimna is often called Dum in other parts of India, as in Chamba ;
16 and is regarded by Hindu.s as the type of uncleanness. Yet he seems once to
17 have enjoyed as a sei>arate alioriginal race some power and importance. Further
18 information regarding him will be found in Shen-ing (I, 400) and Elliott
19 (1,84). He is of course quite distinct from the Dura-Miriisi whom I have
20 classed as Mirasi.
21 655. The Barara (Caste No. 137).— The Barara or Barar is the basket-
22 maker and I)amboo-worker of the higher hills, though he has spread into the
23 sub-montane districts. He is not a scavenger by occupation, though he
24 is said to worship Lai Beg, the Chuhra deity. He is fond of hunting,
25 which fact, combined with his occupation, would almost seem to point
26 to a gipsy origin. He is also called Nirgiilu, because he works in the
27 Nargali or hill-bamboo. The name is probably that of an occupation
28 rather than of a time caste, and appears to be hardly distinguishable
29 fi'om Bhanjra. In Kulu the Bariira is said to be generally Koli by caste.
30 He is an outcast, like all workers in grass or reeds, and only 66 are returned C^- ^^^1
31 as Musalmans.
32 656. The Sarera (Caste No. 97). — In my tables I found two castes
33 returned, Sarera and Sarara ; the former in the Amritsar, Lahore, and Rawal-
34 pindi divisions, and the latter in the Jalandhar division and the Haz^ra
35 district. It appeared on inquiry that the Hazara people were probably, though
36 not certainly, distinct ; while the others were certainly one and the same, and
37 were sometimes called by the one name and sometimes by the other. I there-
38 fore entered them as Sarera, reserving Sarara for the Hazara people. The
39 Sareras are returned only from Kangra and its neighbourhood. In Kangra
40 they are for the most part general labourers ; and they specially scutch cotton
41 like the Penja or Dhunia of the plains, and are also said to make stone mortars.
42 But they are likewise largely employed in field-labour. They are outcasts of
43 much the same status as Chamars, and almost all of them are classed as
44 Hindu.
45 657. The Koli and Dagi (Chanal, Hali and Sepi) (Castes Nos. 66 and
46 50)'. — These two words, together with a third name Chanal, are used almost
47 indifferently to describe the lower class of menials of the highest hills. The
48 Koli of the plains has already been described in section 611, and my figui-es
49 for Koli include him also ; but he is easily distinguishable by his locality, the
50 ' For tlie figurea for the Kolis of the Native States, see the end of Table VIII A in
51 Appendix B.
52 I