[Central Indian Banjâras. Worship of the ox.] 10. The Banjâras of Central India have a curious form of ox worship. [228] “When sickness occurs they lead the sick man to the feet of the bullock called Hatâdiya (Sans. Hatya-âdhya, ‘which it is an extra sin to slay’), for though they say that they pay reverence to images and that their religion is that of the Sikhs, the object of their worship is the Hatâdiya, a bullock devoted to the god Bâlaji. On this animal no burden is ever laid, but he is decorated with streamers of red-dyed silk and tinkling bells with many brass chains and rings on neck and feet, and strings of kauri shells, and silken tassels hanging in all directions; he moves steadily at the head of the convoy, and the place where he lies down on when he is tired, that they make their halting place for the day; at his feet they make their vows when difficulties overtake them, and, in illness, whether of themselves or cattle, they trust to his worship for a cure.” [Banjâras of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.] 11. The Banjâras of these Provinces have been classified at the last Census under the heads of Chauhân, Bahrûp, Guâr, Jâdon, Panwâr, Râthaur, and Tunwar. Of these, all, except the Bahrûp and Guâr, are well-known Râjput septs, and, as we have seen in the case of the Dakkhin Banjâras, the tribal tradition points to a Râjput origin. There is also a general tradition that they at one time held considerable territories in Oudh and the other submontane districts. Thus they are said to have been very early settlers in Bareilly, whence they were expelled by the Janghâra Râjputs. [229] In Kheri [230] the Jângrê Râjputs acquired Khairagarh from their allies the Banjâras. In Bahrâich [231] they were finally expelled from the Sijauli Pargana by the Chakladâr Hakîm Mehndi about 1821 A.D. In the Nânpâra Pargana of the same district they were finally coerced by Rasûl Khân, the Afghân, in 1632 A.D. [232] In the Dûn [233] they have a story that they attended to the commissariat of the Pândavas after their exile from Hastinapur, and were the founders of the town of Deoband, in the Sahâranpur District. In the Banjâra Tola of the town of Gopamau, in the Hardoi District, there are some Banjâras who call themselves Sayyid Salâri, and say that they are descended from the followers of the Saint. [234] On the other hand, those in Madras describe themselves as the descendants of Sugriva, the monkey chieftain who was the ally of Râma. [235] There can be no reasonable doubt that they are a very mixed race, composed of various elements, as is the case in Central India, where Sir Alfred Lyall speaks of them as “made up of contingents from various other castes and tribes, which may have at different times joined the profession.” [236] The Census report gives the most important local sub-castes as—in Muzaffarnagar the Dhankûta, or “rice pounders,” and the Labâna; in Aligarh, the Nandbansi; in Etâwah, the Jât; in Pilibhît, the Labâna; in the Tarâi,