1 82 PAN.TAB CASTES.
2 classes the tribe h most iniportftnt, aud in the west it is the one great f«ct to be ascertained ;
3 among the priestly and mercantile classes it is almo-it meaningless, ami what -n-e want is the section
4 of the caste. Wliat we did was 1o attempt to record all three facts, where they existed, intending
5 afterwards to select our figures. If we had a-^ki'd for two only «e should have run the risk of
6 getting one wc did not want and missing one that we did want. Of two Khatri brothers one
7 would have returned himself as Khatri Kapur and the other as Khatri Charziiti ; of two Brahman
8 brothers one would liavp appeared as Braliman f^arsut and the other as Bralimau Gautama ; of two
9 Biloih brothers one would have been i-ecorded as Biloch Find and the other as Biloch Laghari ;
10 tabulation would have given us wholly meaningless and imperfect figures. We therefore divided
11 our caste column into three sub-columns beaded " original caste or tribe, " " clan, " and " got or
12 Bept." Now the first difficulty we encountered was the translation of these headings. In the east
13 qaum is used for religion and zdt for caste ; in the west qainn for caste, sdf for tribe or clan. In the
14 estst got is the universal word for tribe among the peasantry, insomuch that the Rajputs call their
15 royal races not kills but gots ; everywhere it is used by Brahmaus, Banyas and the like for 'the
16 Brahminical gotra ; in the west it is unknott'u save in the latter sense. As for the local term for
17 smaller tribes or clans they vary almost from district to district and from caste to caste. After
18 consulting Commissioners we translated our lioadlugs ' «.«/ qaum, ' ' z^t ;/a Jirqah, ' ' got pa
19 ' shAkh.' The instructions issued for filling up these columns will be found in general letter C.,
20 Appendix D., section 5, at section 13 of the entlo-ed instructions to enumerators and at section 25
21 of the enclosed instructions to supervisors. Their general tenour was that the caste or race such
22 as Kajput or Pathan was to be shown in the first, its principal section such as Rind, Gaur,
23 Agarwal in the second, and its secondary sub-section such as Chaubiin. Ghatwal, Bharadwaj in the
24 third column ; that the //o( if there was any was always to go into the third column ; and Ihat
25 where there was only one division the second column was to be loft empty. The staff was warned
26 against the loose use of the terms , Tat and Gujar as names of occupations, and it was explained
27 that the ' original caste ' column was intended to contain, not the caste of traditional origin, luit
28 the actual caste to which the people were recognized as now belonging. To these instructions was
29 appended a saniple schedule filled up liy way of example.
30 365. Errors in the record of castes and tribes.— I should explain that when I drafted
31 these instructions 1 knew nothing of any portion of the Panjab except the .Tamna districts, and
32 had no conception how utterly different the divisions of tlie population and the relations betneon
33 tribe and caste were in the west of the Province. For my sample schedule I procured specimens
34 filled up by District and Settlement Officers from all parts of the Province, and consulted many
35 natives of different castes, yet there were several mistakes in the schedule ; in fact I believe
36 it would be impossible to frame a set of entries which should not contain errors if judged by the
37 varying standards current in different parts of the Paujab. More than this, there were errors in
38 the very examples given in the instructi.ns; for I had not properly apprehended the nature of
39 what I have called " sections, " and I did not rightly estimate the relation between the Eajpiit
40 tribes of tbt Fanjab and the great Tculs or royal races. But the worst mistake of all was the use of
41 the word asl or " original " with caste, and the use of the word " got. " The addition of aal
42 induced many of the tribes of the western districts and Salt-range Tract to return, not their caste,
43 or tribe as it now stands, but the Mughal, Kurcshi, or other stock from which they are so fond
44 of claiming descent ; and it doubtless tempted many undoubted .Tats to record their RAjput origin.
45 And the use of the word got set people to find out what was the Brahminical gotra of the person
46 under enumeration. In the eastern districts the word was perfectly understood. But in the hills
47 and in the Western Plains it is only used in the sense of gotra. It did not matter that I had asked
48 for got or shnkh. The latter word is not commonly used in connection with family or tribe ;
49 the former is ; and every enumerator insisted upon each person having a got. In Plach
50 Mr. Anderson found a village all entered as of one ^o<ra, and that an uncommon one. "On
51 " inquiry from the people themselves they said they really did not know what was their got, but
52 "that some one in the village had consulted the Brahma ns at Nii-mand, who told him he was of
53 " the Pethinesi got, and the whole village followed him. The headman of the village when asked
54 " of what got he was, could not even pronounce the word. The better and more intelligent
55 " classes know their ^o/s, and others did not wish to be behind them. " Xow all this trouble was
56 obviously caused by asking for the gotra. Wliat I wanted, and what I said I wanted plainly
57 enough in the instructions, was the tribe or sub-'livision of the caste ; and that the people could
58 probably have given readUy enough. What was needed was to substitute the local term, whatever
59 it might have been, for got or .^hdkh ; but the people knew what a got was, even if they did not
60 know what was their got, and hence the confusion. Another great cause of error was the
61 insistence with which the Census Staff demanded that all three columns should be filled up for each
62 person. I had said that I only wanted two entries where there was no second sub-division, as is
63 the case in a very large number of cases, but that did not mattter ; the columns were there with
64 separate headings, and one after another the Disti'ict Officers in their reports point out the diffi-
65 culty of getting entries for all three, the reason being that in many cases there were only facts
66 enough for two. The result is that many of the Jats entered as the third bending the name of the
67 Kajpiit tribe from which they claim to have sprung. And another most fertile cause of error must
68 have been the eflorts that were made to attain uniformity. In many districts committees were