Bhurtiya.—A small tribe found, according to the last Census, only in Allahâbâd, but there are some certainly in the hill country of Mirzapur. The origin of the name is very uncertain. Mr. Nesfield without much probability derives it from bharti karna, “to lend money for short periods.” They say themselves that it comes from bhurti, which is the same as phurti, “quickness,” because one of their ancestors was once in such a hurry to go to an entertainment that she put her ornaments on all awry, and her descendants have been called Bhurtiya ever since. They claim to be an offshoot of the Ahîrs, whom they closely resemble in appearance and customs. They are very respectable, industrious people, and make their livelihood by cultivation and rearing cattle. DISTRIBUTION OF THE BHURTIYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891. ==============+======== District. | Number. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~ Allahâbâd | 423 ==============+======== Bidua.—A functional division of Brâhmans, the consecrator of images and idols, wells, tanks, and mango orchards. “His name seems a corruption of Vidya, an ancient synonym for Veda. The idol intended for consecration undergoes various forms of ablution: first in water from some sacred river, then in panchamrita or ‘five drinks of immortality’—milk, cream, melted butter, honey, and sugar dissolved in holy water. No one is allowed to bathe in a tank, drink water from a well, or eat the fruit of an orchard until the above liquids have been thrown into them. Brâhmans are also fed, and the homa sacrifice performed. At such times seven places are assigned,—(a) for the navagraha, the nine planets including the sun and moon; (b) the asterisms (nakshatra); (c) the seven saints (Sapta Rishi); (d) the three hundred and thirty millions of deities of the Hindu pantheon; (e) the ancestral ghosts (pitri); (f) the deities of the quarters (dikpati, dikpâla); (g) the sacred rivers of India and of the celestial firmament.” [111]