[Religion.] 14. “Bhîls will eat the flesh of all animals, even that of a dead camel. Bhîls and Mînas having no order of priesthood, resort to the Guru of the Chamârs. These Gurus assume the appellations and badges of Brâhmans. They do not adopt disciples; but the office is hereditary, descending from the father to all the sons. The minstrel of the Bhîls is called Kamriya. The principal deities of the Bhîls and Mînas are Mâtâji and Devi. They also worship Agru. The Chauhân warrior-saint Gûgaji is much worshipped in Sirohi as a protector from the bite of the nâg sânp or cobra. [56] He is worshipped under the form of a warrior on horseback and also under the form of a cobra.” DISTRIBUTION OF THE BHÎLS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891. ===============+=========== District. | Number. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~ Muzaffarnagar | 1 Agra | 17 Farrukhâbâd | 1 Mainpuri | 5 Etâwah | 1 Etah | 37 Morâdâbâd | 5 Jhânsi | 109 Tarâi | 14 | Total | 190 | Males | 117 Females | 73 ===============+=========== Bhoksa, Bhuksa. [57]—A tribe akin to the Thârus who are found in the Tarâi and Bhâbar from Pilibhît District on the East to Chândpur on the Ganges on the West. There are a few scattered colonies in Dehra Dûn. There are three main sections of them, the Pûrabi or “Eastern” which lies east of the Râmganga and as far west as the Gola or Sârda, where the Thârus begin; the Pachhami or “Western” which inhabits the Pâtli Dûn and Bijnor between the Râmganga and the Ganges; and a section reaching still further west from the Ganges to the Jumna. Between the Eastern and Western sections there is no friendly intercourse; each shuns the other, and the usual fictions are repeated about eating frogs and lizards. [58] [Appearance.] 2. Dr. Stewart thus describes them in Bijnor. [59]—“The members of the tribe are of short stature and very sparse in habit, in both respects somewhat exceeding the ordinary Hindu peasant of the District, from whom, however, they do not differ much in general build or in complexion. The eyes are small; the opening of the eye lids being narrow, linear and horizontal (the inner angle not inclining downwards so far as observed); the face is very broad across the cheek bones, and the nose is depressed, thus increasing the general flatness of the face: the jaw is prognathous and the lower lip thick and the moustache and beard are very scanty.” Some of these peculiarities are more marked in some individuals than in others, but one Bhoksa will always recognise another, though a Kumâuni says he only recognises them when they speak. The features of the women are similar to those of the men.