The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)Crooke, William
History
The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)
Crooke, William
Caste -- India -- History; Hindus -- India; Tribes -- India -- History
2. According to Mr. Carnegy, [218] however, they spring from a Brâhman,
Chuchu Pânrê, and a Dharkârin or Dom woman, and their name is connected
with that of the Bânsphor Doms. They worship as their tribal fetish the
knife (bânka) with which Doms split the bamboo, and this they now call
a poniard, the symbol of Narwar.
3. Thirdly, Sir H. M. Elliot [219] describes them as a branch of the
Chauhâns.
4. On the general question of their origin Mr. Millet writes
[220]:—“With regard to the theory which makes their Kshatriya status of
local development, the Bandhalgotis freely admit that one of their
number was enlisted on the side of the Râja of Hasanpur in his dispute
with the Baghels, and that in return for services then rendered a tract
of land was made over to him by the Râja. Again, while they describe
their former home to have been at Narwargarh, the town of Hasanpur was,
until the time of Hasan Khân, that is just till the synchronism in the
annals of the Bandhalgoti and the Bachgoti, known as Narwal. And
further, whereas the Bandhalgoti derive their name from Bandhu, there
is contiguous to Hasanpur a village named Bandhu, and a slight eminence
on the border of a tank between the two is still pointed out as the
residence of the Bandhalgoti servant of the Râja. The story of the
Dharkârin alliance may seem to find some support in one form of the
clan appellation; for Banjhilgoti is a very possible corruption of
Bânschhilgoti (bâns, “a bamboo,” chhîlna, “to pare”), and although the
exact word banschhil does not exist, a very similar one, Bânsphor,
shows that the bamboo-splitting industry furnishes the basis of a caste
distinction. The reverse of the picture is not, however, quite blank.
Whatever the source of the Bandhalgoti traditions, it is curious that
in claiming kinship with the Jaypur family they should hit on, as the
home of their ancestors, the very place it occupied before its removal
to Jaypur; and the strangeness of the coincidence is enhanced by the
fact that Sûda Râê’s pilgrimage agrees in date with the Kachhwâha
migration.” The question of their origin must then remain to some
extent doubtful.
5. In Sultânpur they are reported to take brides from the Bilkhariya,
Tashaiya, Chandauriya, Kath Bais, Bhâlê Sultân, Raghubansi, Gargbansi,
Râjkumâr, and Bachgoti; and to give girls to the Tilokchandi Bais,
Mainpuri Chauhâns, Mahûl Sûrajbansis, Nagar Gautams, and Bisens of
Majhauli; and that their gotra is Bandhal. In Gonda, it is said that
their gotra is Vatsya, and that they give girls to the Panwâr, Bisen,
Sirnet, Raikwâr, Bhadauriya, Bais, Kalhans and Chauhân; and take brides
from the Sûrajbans, Bachgoti, Barwâr, Gaharwâr, and other high caste
Râjputs.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BANDHALGOTI RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF
1891.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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