The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Part 39

_Kabiraya_.--(Followers of Kabir.) A subcaste of Kori. A section of Koshti.

_Kabirpanthi_.--A member of the Kabirpanthi sect. A subcaste of Panka and Agharia. A cla.s.s of Bairagis or religious mendicants.

_Kabra_.--(Spotted.) One of the 72 1/2 sections of Maheshri Bania.

_Kabutari_.--(Pigeon.) A synonym for Kolhati. A name given to female dancers of the Nat caste.

_Kabutkunia_.--(Those who find place at the corner of the door.) A subcaste of Sudh in Sambalpur, being the illegitimate issues of the Baro Sudh subcaste.

_Kachara_.--Synonym of Kachera.

_Kachchhi_.--(From Cutch in Gujarat.) A subdivision of Balmiki Kayasths and Mathur Kayasths.

_Kachhap_.--(Tortoise.) A totemistic sept of Agharia, Sudh, Bhulia, Chasa, Kamar and Khandait.

_Kachhotia_.--Subcaste of Jadam.

_Kachhutva_.--(The tortoise.) A totemistic sept of several groups of Gonds, also of Darzi, Halba, Kol, Rawat, Munda, Jat, Kachhi and Lohar.

_Kachhwaha_.--(The tortoise.) One of the thirty-six royal races of Rajputs, the princes of Jaipur or Amber being of this clan. They derive the name from Cutch, or from Kush, an eponymous ancestor. A section of Nandbansi Ahir, Gadaria, Kachhi and Nat. The Kachhwaha section of Gadarias wors.h.i.+p the tortoise.

_Kada-kalle-bhallavi._--One who uses donkeys for pack-carriage (_bhallavi_), but stole a horse (_kalle-kada_). A sept of the Dhurwa clan of Satdeve Gonds in Betul.

_Kagar_.--Synonym of Dhimar.

_Kagwaria_.--From _kagwar_, an offering made to the ancestors in the month of Kunwar. Subcaste of Kol.

_Kaibartta_.--Synonym of Kewat.

_Kaikadi_.--Synonym of Kaikari.

_Kainthwans_.--A subcaste of Pasi in Saugor and Betul, said to have originated in a cross between a Badhak or Baori, and a Kayasth woman.

_Kaith_.--Synonym for Kayasth.

_Kaitha, Kaithia_.--Subcaste of Bharbhunja and Darzi.

_Kakra_.--One who arranges for the lighting at the marriage and other ceremonies. Subcaste of Chitrakathi.

_Kala_.--(Black.) A subcaste of Golkar (Ahir.

_Kalachuri_.--Synonym for the Haihaya clan of Rajputs.

_Kalanga_.--A caste. A subcaste of Gond.

_Kalanki_.--A subdivision of Maharashtra Brahmans found in Nagpur. They are considered degraded, as their name indicates. They are said to have cut up a cow made of flour to please a Muhammadan governor, and to follow some other Muhammadan practices.

_Kalapithia_,--(Having black backs.) A subcaste of Savars in Puri of Orissa. They have the right of dragging the car of Jagannath.

_Kalawant_.--t.i.tle of Mirasi.

_Kalbelia_.--(Catcher of snakes.) A subcaste of Nat.

_Kalibelia_.--(_Bel_, an ox.) A section of Chadar. They draw a picture of an ox at their weddings.

_Kalihari_.--(Bridle.) A section of Teli in Nandgaon, so named because they presented a bridle to their king.

_Kalkhor_.--(Castor-oil plant.) A totemistic sept of the Audhalia caste.

_Kalutia, Kalota_.--A subtribe of Gonds in Chanda and Betul.

_Kalwar_.--Synonym of Kalar.

_Kamad._ [447]--A small caste of jugglers, who come from Rajputana and travel about in the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts. They were not returned at the census, and appear to belong to Rajputana. Their special entertainment consists in playing with cymbals, and women are the chief performers. The woman has eight or nine cymbals secured to her legs before and behind, and she strikes these rapidly in turn with another held in her hand, twisting her body skilfully so as to reach all of them, and keeping time with the music played on guitar-like instruments by the men who accompany her. If the woman is especially skilful, she will also hold a naked sword in her mouth, so as to increase the difficulty of the performance.

The Kamads dress after the Rajputana fas.h.i.+on, and wear yellow ochre-coloured clothes. Their exogamous sections have Rajput names, as Chauhan, Panwar, Gudesar, Jogpal and so on, and like the Rajputs they send a cocoanut-core to signify a proposal for marriage. But the fact that they have a special aversion to Dhobis and will not touch them makes it possible that they originated from the Dom caste, who share this prejudice. [448] Reason has been found to suppose that the Kanjars, Kolhatis and other migrant groups of entertainers are sprung from the Doms, and the Kamads may be connected with these. No caste, not even the sweepers, will accept food from the Kamads. They employ a Brahman, however, to officiate at their marriage and death ceremonies. Like the Gosains the Kamads bury their dead in a sitting posture, a niche being hollowed out at the side of the grave in which the corpse is placed. Crushed bread (_malida_) and a gourd full of water are laid beside the corpse. The caste wors.h.i.+p the footprints of Ramdeo, a saint of Marwar, and pay special reverence to the G.o.ddess Hinglaj, who is a deity of several castes in Rajputana.

_Kamalbansi_.--(Stock of the lotus.) Subcaste of Kawar.

_Kamal Kul_.--(Lotus.) A section of Komti. They do not use lotus roots nor yams.

_Kamari, Kailwa_.--One of the thirty-six royal races of Rajputs.

_Kamaria_.--(From _kambal_, blanket.) A subcaste of Ahir. A section of Dhimar and Sonkar.

_Kamathi, Kamati_.--A term applied in the Maratha Districts to immigrants from Madras. It is doubtful whether the Kamathis have become a caste, but about 150 persons returned this name as their caste in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911, and there are about 7000 in India, none, however, being recorded from the Madras Presidency. It is stated that the word Kamathi means 'fool' in Tamil, and that in Bombay all Telugus are called Kamathis, to whatever caste they may belong. Similarly, Maratha immigrants into Madras are known by the generic name of Arya, [449] and those coming from Hindustan into the Nerbudda valley as Pardes.h.i.+, while in the same locality the Brahmans and Rajputs of Central India are designated by the Marathas as Rangra. This term has the signification of rustic or boorish, and is therefore a fairly close parallel to Kamathi, if the latter word has the meaning given above. In the Thana District of Bombay [450] people of many cla.s.ses are included under the name of Kamathi. Though they do not marry or even eat together, the different cla.s.ses of Kamathis have a strong feeling of fellows.h.i.+p, and generally live in the same quarter of the town. In the Central Provinces the Kamathis are usually masons and house-builders or labourers. They speak Telugu in their houses and Marathi to outsiders. In Sholapur [451] the Kamathis dress like Kunbis. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling, and appear to have become a regular caste. Their priests are Telugu Brahmans, and their ceremonies resemble those of Kunbis. On the third day after a child is born the midwife lifts it up for the first time, and it is given a few light blows on the back. For three days the child sucks one end of a rag the other end of which rests in a saucer of honey, and the mother is fed on rice and clarified b.u.t.ter. On the fourth day the mother begins to suckle the child. Until the mother is pregnant a second time, no _choti_ or scalp-lock is allowed to grow on the child's head. When she becomes pregnant, she is taken with the child before the village G.o.d, and a tuft of hair is thereafter left to grow on the crown of its head.

_Kamma._--A large cultivating caste of the Madras Presidency, of which a few representatives were returned from the Chanda District in 1911. They are derived from the same Dravidian stock as the other great cultivating castes of Madras, and, originally soldiers by profession, have now settled down to agriculture. No description of the caste need be given here, but the following interesting particulars may be recorded. The word Kamma means an ear ornament, and according to tradition a valuable jewel of this kind belonging to a Raja of Warangal fell into the hands of his enemies. One section of the great Kapu caste, boldly attacking the foe and recovering the jewel, were hence called Kamma, while another section, which ran away, received the derogatory t.i.tle of Velama (_veli_, away). Another story says that the Kammas and Velamas were originally one caste, and had adopted the Muhammadan system of _gosha_ or _purda_. But finding that they were thus handicapped in compet.i.tion with the other cultivating castes, it was proposed that the new custom should be abandoned. Those who agreed to this signed a bond, which was written on a palm-leaf (_kamma_), and hence received their new name. In the Central Provinces the Kammas are divided into three subcastes, the Illuvellani or those who do not go out of the house, the Tadakchatu or those who live within _tadaks_ or mat screens, and the Polumtir or those who go into the fields. These names are derived from the degrees in which the different subdivisions seclude their women, the Illuvellani observing strict _purda_ and the Polumtir none whatever, while the Tadakchatu follow a middle course. On this account some social difference exists between the three subcastes, and when the Illuvellani dine with either of the other two they will not eat from the plates of their hosts, but take their food separately on a leaf. And the Tadakchatu practise a similar distinction with the Polumtir, but the two latter divisions do not decline to eat from plates or vessels belonging to an Illuvellani. The Kammas forbid a man to marry in the _gotra_ or family group to which he belongs, but a wife from the same _gotra_ as his mother's is considered a most desirable match, and if his maternal uncle has a daughter he should always take her in marriage. A man is even permitted to marry his own sister's daughter, but he may not wed his mother's sister's daughter, who is regarded as his own sister. Among the Kammas of the Tamil country Mr. (Sir H.) Stuart [452] states that a bride is often much older than her husband, and a case is cited in which a wife of twenty-two years of age used to carry her boy-husband on her hip as a mother carries her child. One other curious custom recorded of the caste may be noticed. A woman dying within the lifetime of her husband is wors.h.i.+pped by her daughters, granddaughters or daughters-in-law, and in their absence by her husband's second wife if he has one. The ceremony is performed on some festival such as Dasahra or Til-Sankrant, when a Brahman lady, who must not be a widow, is invited and considered to represent the deceased ancestor. She is anointed and washed with turmeric and saffron, and decorated with sandal-paste and flowers; a new cloth and breast-cloth are then presented to her which she puts on; sweets, fruit and betel-leaf are offered to her, and the women of the family bow down before her and receive her benediction, believing that it comes from their dead relative.

_Kammala._--A small Telugu caste in the Chanda District. The name Kammala is really a generic term applied to the five artisan castes of Kamsala or goldsmith, Kanchara or brazier, Kammara or blacksmith, Vadra or carpenter, and Silpi or stone-mason. These are in reality distinct castes, but they are all known as Kammalas. The Kammalas a.s.sert that they are descended from Visva Karma, the architect of the G.o.ds, and in the Telugu country they claim equality with Brahmans, calling themselves Visva Brahmans. But inscriptions show that as late as the year A.D. 1033 they were considered a very inferior caste and confined to the village site. [453] Mr. (Sir H.) Stuart writes in the _Madras Census Report_ that it is not difficult to account for the low position formerly held by the Kammalas, for it must be remembered that in early times the military castes in India as elsewhere looked down upon all engaged in labour, whether skilled or otherwise. With the decline of military power, however, it was natural that a useful caste like the Kammalas should gradually improve its position, and the reaction from this long oppression has led them to make the exaggerated claims described above, which are ridiculed by every other caste, high or low. The five main subdivisions of the caste do not intermarry. They have priests of their own and do not allow even Brahmans to officiate for them, but they invite Brahmans to their ceremonies. Girls must be married before p.u.b.erty. The binding ceremony of the marriage consists in the tying of a circular piece of gold on a thread of black beads round the bride's neck by the bridegroom. Widow-marriage is prohibited.

_Kammari._--Telugu Lohars or blacksmiths.

_Kamsala._--(A goldsmith.) Subcaste of Kammala.

_Ka.n.a.lsia._--(_Kanelu_, a tile.) A section of Ahir in Nimar who do not live in tiled huts.

_Kanare._--(A resident of Canara.) A subcaste of Dhangar.

_Kanaujia, Kankubja._--A very common subcaste name, indicating persons whose ancestors are supposed to have come from the town of Kanauj in northern India, into the Central Provinces. A subcaste of Ahir, Bahna, Bharbhunja, Bhat, Brahman, Dahait, Darzi, Dhobi, Halwai, Lohar, Mali, Nai, Patwa, Sunar and Teli.

_Kanbajia_ or _Ahirwar._--Same as Kanaujia. Subcaste of Chamar.

_Kanchara._--(A bra.s.sworker.) Subcaste of Kammala.

_Kand._--(Roots or tubers of wild plants.) A section of Raghuvansi Rajputs in Hoshangabad.

_Kanda Potel_.--(One who grows roots.) A section of Mali.