[Occupation.] 8. Mr. Whiteway, in his Mathura Settlement Report [157] thus describes the Ahiwâsis:—“They are a race well marked by several peculiarities. In appearance they are easily distinguished, the men by their head-dress, and the women by their way of wearing their hair. Their favourite occupation is the carrying trade. Trading in their own carts, they carry salt from Râjputâna all over Northern India, bringing back sugar and other commodities in return. The better off trade with their own money, and, in fact, the heads of the community are very fairly comfortable, and their villages are remarkable for the number of good masonry houses. At the same time these distant journeys keep the male population absent from the villages for months at a time, and the tilling of the field is left entirely to the women. It is natural, therefore, that easily as an Ahiwâsi may be recognised by his appearance and his village by the number of carts, cattle, and masonry houses, so his fields may be told by their slovenly and careless cultivation. The Ahiwâsis complain bitterly of the havoc the net-work of railways, now spreading over the country, is playing with their old occupation.” DISTRIBUTION OF THE AHIWÂSIS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891. Mathura 8,265 Bareilly 1,070 Budâun 105 Morâdâbâd 11 Bahrâich 51 ~~~~~~ Total 9,502 ====== Ajudhyabâsi.—(Residents of Ajudhya) A sub-caste of Banyas found chiefly in the Agra and Allahâbâd Divisions and Oudh. (See the article on Audhiya). DISTRIBUTION OF THE AJUDHYABÂSI BANYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891. =============+======== District. | Number. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~ Agra | 30 Farrukhâbâd | 2,390 Mainpuri | 1,583 Etâwah | 1,279 Etah | 540 Budâun | 86 Shâhjahânpur | 1,044 Pilibhît | 140 Cawnpur | 2,594 Fatehpur | 800 Bânda | 6,914 Hamîrpur | 1,614 Allahâbâd | 67 Jhânsi | 16 Jâlaun | 102 Benares | 1 Gorakhpur | 35 Basti | 35 Lucknow | 413 Unâo | 18 Râê Bareli | 996 Sîtapur | 1,284 Hardoi | 173 Kheri | 967 Faizâbâd | 1,324 Gonda | 382 Bahrâich | 1,510 Sultânpur | 1,498 Bârabanki | 2,460 +~~~~~~~~ Total | 30,295 =============+========