The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)Crooke, William
History
The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)
Crooke, William
Caste -- India -- History; Hindus -- India; Tribes -- India -- History
=============+=======
District. |Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~
Bulandshahr | 25
Mathura | 1
Agra | 15
Farrukhâbâd | 58
Etâwah | 6
Etah | 4
Shâhjahânpur | 29
Cawnpur | 2
Fatehpur | 43
Hamîrpur | 618
Allahâbâd | 114
Jhânsi | 1,942
Jâlaun | 189
Lalitpur | 6,152
Gorakhpur | 2
Basti | 96
Lucknow | 2
Faizâbâd | 2
Partâbgarh | 7
+~~~~~~~
Total | 9,307
=============+=======
Burhela.—A sept of Râjputs in Râê Bareli, [181] who are not separately
entered in the Census Returns. Their sons many girls from the
Raghubansi and Bais septs; their girls marry Amethiya and with
difficulty Bais boys.
C
Châi, [182] Châin, Châini.—A cultivating, fishing, and thieving caste
found in Oudh and the Eastern Districts. Nothing certain is known as to
the origin of the name. It has been suggested that they are the
representatives of the Chârya, [183] a degraded Vaisya class, or that
the word is totemistic (meaning the seed of a tamarind; Sanskrit,
chârmika, “leather”). Mr. Risley [184] writes of them:—“They are
probably an offshoot from some non-Aryan tribe. They are found in Oudh,
where Mr. Nesfield connects them with the Thâru, Râji, Nat, and other
broken and gypsy-like tribes inhabiting the base of the Himâlayas, and
traces in their physiognomy features peculiar to Mongolian races. Mr.
Sherring, again, in one place speaks of them as a sub-caste of Mallâhs;
in another as a class of jugglers, thimble-riggers, and adventurers,
who attend fairs and other festivals like men of the same profession in
England. A sub-caste of the Nuniyas bears the name Châin, but the
Nuniyas do not admit any affinity. Mr. C. F. Magrath, in his Memorandum
on the Tribes and Castes of Bihâr, published in the Bengal Census
Report of 1872, says they closely resemble Binds in their occupation,
being chiefly boatmen, who also engage in fishing. Châins are thickest
south of the Ganges, while Binds are most numerous in North Bihâr. Mr.
Magrath adds that their reputation as thieves, impostors, and
swindlers, is in his experience not altogether deserved, as the men
whom the common people, and even the police of Bihâr, describe as
Châins, usually turn out on enquiry to be Maghaiya Doms, Nats, or
Rajwârs.” Their customs, according to Mr. Risley’s account, do not
differ from those of Mallâhs.
2. In Oudh, according to Mr. Carnegy, [185] they live chiefly by
fishing, cultivation, and making reed mats. They smoke with but do not
eat with Mallâhs. They frequent the neighbourhood of lakes and rivers,
and are divided into the Eastern and Western branches, which do not
intermarry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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