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224
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[AUGUST, 1874.
or merchants are not so much regarded by them as in other parts of India, as, for example, in Gujarât, where they have a position similar to that of the Vaisy as of old, while some of them are allowed to be called Kshatriyas. To most of the classes of workers in metal, except the fabricators of the coarsest sort of articles, they give a high position in caste. The Devalakas, or dressers of idols, they place but little above the cultivators; and the Guravas, who have the same occupation, they place considerably below them. The status of the cultivators is given to certain classes of herdsmen, minstrels, barbers, rajgurus, wrestlers, chatra-holders, cooks, iniddleclass coppersmiths, and braziers and carpenters. Upwards of 60 castes of artizans, cattle-keepers, and labourers are placed below the cultivators. Among these, absurdly enough, are ranked the K&. yasthas and Parbhus (both writers), who have manifestly Åryan blood flowing in their veins, and who could not have obtained their olden designation of those of the presence' (kaya meaning 'body') had they not been of Aryan descent. The Wild Tribes and the Antyaja, those 'born at the extremity,' they put on the level of Chandalas -nay, often below them-in the caste lists.
The Wild Tribes or Aborigines (80 called) of the Maratha Country, and of the Bombay Presidency in general, are the Bhills, the Nayakaḍas, or Naik râs, and the Gondas. The Intermingled and Isolated Tribes are the Kulis or Kolis, of many divisions, the Dhudias, the Chaudharis, the W&dalis, the Katkaris or Katoḍis (makers of catechu), the Duba lâs, and the R &musis or Bedårs, who are principally found on the eastern spurs of the Ghats south of Pund. The Depressed Tribes, fast rising under the British Government in social importance, are the Mah&rs, already alluded to, and the M&ngs, the Mâtangas of the Sanskrit books. The Wandering Tribes and Classes are numerous, comprehending not merely Religious Devotees and Pilgrims recognized in the other provinces of India, but some who are peculiar to this Presidency, as the M&nabhavas and the devotees of local gods and temples, to which frequently they have been devoted at their birth by their parents; mendicants, who solicit alms in the names of particular gods, assuming various disguises and practising numerous tricks, quackeries, and deceptions; showmen and actors of great variety; wandering artizans and labourers of olden tribes, now nearly extinct, as the Vadaras (Odras), Beldars, Kaikaḍis (Kaikatyas), etc.
seaboard, so broken by numerous creeks into which only small vessels can enter, is spoken of as the pirate coast.' The Mughul Government was never firmly established among them, either under its imperial or provincial dynasties; and, bringing them no signal benefits, it was never relished by them. It is not to be wondered at that, led by such a bold spirit as Sivaji, and favoured by their mountain ranges and recesses and isolated heights, and natural forts (unimpregnable to the appliances of Eastern warfare), they rose up against it, though Sivaji's treachery and cruelty (so well brought out by Grant Duff) are ever to be condemned and execrated. Their own subsequent invasions of Gujarât and the Râjpât and other provinces are considered to this day quite unjustifiable by the natives of those districts. They were seldom the strong coming forth to assist the weak and oppressed, but the strong coming forth to devour the weak. Their treatment even of the wild and degraded tribes of their own neighbourhood, as the Bhills, Kolis, Wadalis, Katkaris, R&mosis, or Be dars, Mahars, Mângs, &c., was commonly inconsiderate and unphilanthropic. Under the peacefu! government of the British, with their educational and instructional appliances, their character and pursuits are becoming greatly improved; and they are now among the most loyal and considerate of the subjects of our Eastern Empire.
With the Marâthâs are associated various artizan, working, and pastoral classes, whom they reckon below themselves, but closely contiguous to them as belonging to their own race. Some of these classes, however, as the Parbhus, goldsmiths, etc., have the Aryan physiognomy pretty distinctly marked in them.
The Marâthâs acknowledge altogether considerably upwards of two hundred castes (sometimes with various sub-divisions, neither eating nor intermarrying with one another). Of these at least 34 claim to belong to the Brahmanhood,† though of some of them it is alleged that they are not of pure birth. The Brahman classes who have had most to do with Maratha history are the Dêsasths, Konkanasthas, Karhâdas, Kanvas, Madhyandinas, and the Shenavis or Sarasvatas. By these Brahmans the existence at present of pure Kshatriyas and Vaisy as is denied; while of the Rajputs it is alleged by them that they are synonymous with Ugras, the descendants of Kshatriyas and Sudras. The Parashavas, the highest class of Sonårs or goldsmiths, they hold to be sprung from Brahmans and Sudras. The V&nis
* Vide ante, p. 73.-ED.
+ Vide ante, p. 45.-ED.
