Indian Antiquary Vol 17

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 78

68
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
From a careful perusal of the above coins it will be seen that all conform to one type. The name of the king is in the square or circle of the obverse, and is repeated in Nagari letters, so that conquerors and conquered might read it. The square coin about whose genuineness I have doubts is the only one without margins, and the rupee of Sikandar has not the name in Nâgari.
Any one taking up a rupee of the Sûrî dynasty should at once recognize its type; and it is the study of typical coins and inscriptions which enables us at once to assign a coin approximately. I write this because in Major Raverty's translation of the Tabaqát-i-Násiri I
NOTES ON THE GIPSY TRIBES OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCES
AND OUDH.
BY WILLIAM CROOKE, B.C.S.
The following notes, in which an attempt will be made to bring together a considerable portion of the scattered information we possess as to the Criminal and Wandering Tribes of the North-West Provinces and Oudh (Avadh), will probably prove of interest to the readers of the Indian Antiquary in connection with Mr. Grierson's laudable efforts to elucidate the vexed question of Gipsy Ethnology.
The first object is to get a workable classification of the more important tribes, and this has been attempted in Captain Dennehy's report contained in the General Report of the Inspector-General of Police, North-West Provinces, for 1868. Captain Dennehy divides them into :
[MARCH, 1888.
find he has been imposed upon by some ignorant native author, who has invented a series of coins of the later Kings of Ghazni and of the early Pathan Sultans of Dehlî, but who, being ignorant of the types of the coins of these kings, has foisted on the learned translator a number of mongrel inscriptions made up of parts of inscriptions on the coins of Aurangzeb and his successors, and a series of titles made up from his own inner consciousness. Strange to say Major Raverty prefers this work to that of the late learned Mr. Thomas! Had he studied the types given by Mr. Thomas he would have escaped being imposed on.
First. Those who seldom or never devote themselves to agricultural labour. Under this head come the Sansiyâs of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Bijnôr:-the Dôms or Dômṛâs of Gorakhpur, Basti and Benares: the Hûbûrês, Kanjars, and Bhêriyâs of the Upper and Central Gangetic Dûâb.
Second. Those who generally live by robbery and theft, but sometimes practise husbandry, such as the Mêuns or Mainâs, or Mainâ Mêuns, or Mêwâtis, of Rajpûtânâ and some of the Western Districts of the NorthWest Provinces: the Bauriyâs of Mêrath, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar: the Baddhaks of several districts: the Jôgis, generally distributed through the Provinces: the Ahâriyâs
of 'Aligarh, Êtâ, Mainpuri and some of the Rohilkhand Districts: the Bahiliyâs of the Central and Lower Dûâb: the Sahriyâs of Bundelkhand: the Chirimârs of Oudh: the Pâsis of Allahâbâd, Fatehpur, Oudh and the Eastern Districts generally: the Gaddis or Gadelas of the Upper Dûâb: the Bhars of Gorakhpur and Basti; the Dôsâdhs of the Benares Division: the Gajars of the Upper Dûab and Rohilkhand: the Rangars of Sabâranpur: the Bilûchîs of Muzaffarnagar; the Sauvriyâs of the Bundelkhand Districts of Lalitpur, Hamirpur and the Native States of Tehri and Dattiâ; the Avadhiyâs of Oudh, Allahabad, Jaunpur, Fatehpur and Hamirpur : the Pardesis of 'Aligarh and Gorakhpur.
This classification, however, is far from complete and leaves out a number of tribes; but we are as yet very insufficiently acquainted with the connection between the different tribes, and many names are no doubt only local. The Inspector-General of Police in his Report for 1867 (page 61) gave as his opinion that "half the thefts in the Provinces are committed by wandering predatory tribes such as Bauṛiyâs, Baheliyâs, Hâbârâs, Kanjars, Naths, Ghôsis, Uthaigiràs, Sâivriyâs, Barwars and others." The distances to which some of these people extend their depredations is extraordinary, and they have probably increased in recent years, owing to the facilities afforded by the Railways. For instance, in the Reports we find cases of Pindaris from Barûdâ committing a