The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 1

Tanwar.—A subcaste of Kawar, to which zamīndārs belong.

Tanwat, Tanwatkari.—A synonym for Panchāl Sunār.

Tarane.—Synonym of Dobaile Teli.

Tasa.—Synonym of Chasa.

Tātwa.—Synonym for Tanti. (From Sanskrit tantu, a fibre.)

Tawāif.—(A prostitute.) Synonym for Kasbi.

Tekām.—(The teak tree.) One of the commonest clans of Gonds. A sept of Baiga, Bharewa, Binjhwār and Pardhān. A subdivision of Majhwār.

Telenga Dora.—(Telugu Lord.) A designation used by the Velama caste.

Telenge.—A Telugu name used by Balijas and other Telugu castes. Subcaste of Nai.

Telha.—Subcaste of Nagasia. The members of this subcaste mark the forehead of the bride with tel or oil at the marriage ceremony.

Teli.—A caste of oil-pressers. Subcaste of Barhai, Dāngri and Gondhali.

Teli-Bania.—A group of the Teli caste who have taken to shopkeeping. Subcaste of Teli.

Teli-Kalār.—A mixed group of the Kalār and Teli castes. Subcaste of Teli.

Teli-Marār.—A subcaste of Marār.

Telkala.—Subcaste of Gandli.

Terah-hazār or Birbandhi.—(Thirteen thousand.) Subcaste of Chero.

Thākur.—(Lord.) The common title of Rājpūts. This title is also used by Lodhis, Rāj-Gonds and other landowning castes. A surname of Karhāra Brāhmans in Saugor. A section of Ahīr, Marār (Māli), Panwār Rājpūt and Sudh.

Thakuria.—(Lordling.) A subcaste of Murao. A subcaste of Kol and Parja. A section of Darzi and Katia.

Thānāpati.—(Master of the sacred place.) Synonym for Gandhmāli.

Thāpak.—A surname of Sanādhia Brāhmans in Saugor. (From Sthāpak, the consecrator of idols.)

Thapatkari.—Synonym of Beldār.

Thathāri.—A caste of coppersmiths in Sambalpur.

Thatia.—A subtribe of Gonds, also called Gaiki or Mahato in Betūl.

Thethwār.—(One who follows the straight path.) A subcaste of Rāwat (Ahīr) in Chhattīsgarh.

Thotia, Thothia.—(Maimed.) A subdivision of Gonds and Pardhāns, who live by begging from the Gonds.

Thuria.—Subcaste of Banjāra in Sambalpur.

Tilokchandi.—(Bais.) A subdivision of the Bais clan of Rājpūts.

Tirelle.—(Tirole.) Subcaste of Are.

Tirgām.—A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betūl. A sept of Pardhān.

Tirmale, Tirmalle.—A small caste of wandering Telugu beggars. Nearly 400 were returned in the Central Provinces and Berār in 1911. Tirmales take about performing bulls. The animal is decorated with brass ornaments and bells, and his back is covered with a patched quilt of different colours. The Tirmale has a red turban with a scarf round his neck, and a follower carries a drum. The bull is cleverly trained and performs various tricks. The caste do this in the mornings, but in the afternoon they appear as Bairāgis or ordinary beggars, and in the evening as sellers of various sacred articles, such as sandalwood, Ganges water and rudrāksha beads. They take water from the Ganges in small phials and go down to the south of India selling it. On this account they are known in Poona as Kāshi Kāwadi or those who carry banghys from Kāshi (Benāres). In Telugu they are called Gangeddulu and in Tamil Endandi, both words meaning people who beg with bulls. They may properly be considered as a subcaste of Dasāris.⁵⁰⁸ The Tirmales travel with their families like the Banjāras, and live in tents or sheds outside the village. Their marriages are generally celebrated in the month of Shrāwan in the rains, when they return from their wanderings. They speak a corrupt Telugu among themselves, but Marāthi to outsiders. They eat flesh and drink liquor. The dead are buried.

Tirmalle.—Synonym of Tirmale.

Tīrtha.—Name of one of the ten orders of Gosains.

Titha.—(From titahri, a sandpiper.) A section of Basor.

Tiwāri.—(Learned in three Vedas.) A family name of Kanaujia and Gaur Brāhmans.

Tiyar.—A boating and fishing caste of Sambalpur and Bengal. In the Central Provinces they numbered 700 in 1911. The caste is a numerous one in Bengal and has been fully described by Sir H. Risley,⁵⁰⁹ so that no detailed notice of it is necessary here. The name is derived from the Sanskrit tivara, a hunter, the Tiyars styling themselves the hunters of the sea. They came to the Central Provinces from Angul in Orissa, and they offer to the goddess Durga in Angul an oblation of 60 to 100 jiān fish and a headload of lotus flowers on her special festival. In honour of Durga they observe a fast on the four Tuesdays of the months of Chait and Kunwār (March and September). In Chait they also worship their hooks and nets. At their marriages when a father has selected a bride for his son he consults an astrologer to compare their horoscopes. If the conjunction is unsatisfactory he will change the boy’s name to suit the astrological calculations. The wedding is celebrated in the common fashion of the Uriya castes. If a bachelor marries a widow he first goes through the form of wedlock with a bunch of flowers. Among their caste penalties, that imposed for the killing of a cow may be mentioned. It is called the Gocharan Brit, and the offender is required to consort with cows for twenty-one days. He must mix and take his meals in the cowshed, and must copy the behaviour of the cows, lying down when they lie down, standing up when they stand up, following them when they walk about, and so on. At the expiration of this period he makes a pilgrimage to a certain village, and on his return partakes of the five products of the sacred cow and gives a feast to the caste. The Tiyars are a low caste, and eat fowls and drink liquor. They will admit a member of any higher caste on his giving a feast to the community. In the Central Provinces they have exogamous sections within which marriage is prohibited; these generally have titular names, as Padhān chief, Dās slave, Guru preceptor, and so on. They catch fish with the ghani benda, a large bamboo basket covered with palm-tree bark, which is sunk under water and secured in the bed of the stream.

Todasai.—(Worshipper of six gods.) A section of Rāj-Gond.

Tomara, Tuar, Tawar.—(Tomar, a club.) A well-known clan of Rājpūts. A sept of Gond.

Toriya.—A name given to Gonds who worship twelve gods in Chānda.

Tumram.—(Tumria, a pumpkin.) A clan of Gond, said to be those who worship six gods.

Turi.—A caste. A synonym for Basors or bamboo-workers. A section of Kalanga.

Turk.—(Muhammadan.) A section of Panwā Rājpūt in Bālāghāt.

Turkān.—A subcaste of Bahna, so called because their forefathers are said to have been soldiers in the army of the king of Delhi.

Turkia, Kurkanya.—A Muhammadan group. Subcaste of Banjāra, Chamār.

Uchla.—(A lifter.) Title for Bhārota.

Uchle.—(Pickpocket.) Subcaste of Māng.

Uchodia.—A subcaste of Bhānd.

Ud.—Subcaste of Chasa. See Odde.

Udaināth.—A subdivision of Jogi.

Udaiputria.—(One belonging to Udaipur.) Subcaste of Dhobi.

Udāsi.—A class of religious mendicants. See Nānakpanthi.

Uika, Oika.—A very common clan of Gonds, who are said to be worshippers of six gods.

Ukās.—A subcaste of Barhai.

Ulluka.—(An owl.) A totemistic sept of Sudh and Dumāl.

Umre.—A subcaste of Bania. See subordinate article to Bania. A subcaste of Kalār, Nai and Teli.

Unayo, Unnaya.—(From Unan in Oudh.) A subdivision of Nigam Kāyasth. It is also sometimes considered as a half subcaste, in addition to the twelve proper subcastes.

Unewāl.—A subdivision of Rhedāwāl Brāhmans found in Jubbulpore. They take their name from Una, a village in Kāthiāwār.

Upādhya.—(A teacher.) A surname of Kananjia and Sanādhya Brāhmans. A title of Mānbhao.

Upmanyu.—An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Uraon.—Synonym of Oraon.

Uriya,—(A native of Orissa.) A synonym for the Sānsia caste of masons in Sambalpur. A subcaste of Gānda, Ghasia, Gond, Karan, Kewat, Koshti, Savar, Sundi and Sunār.

Urkara, Urkare.—(From Warkora, a wild cat in Gondi.) A section of Sunār and Gond.

Usrete.—A subcaste of Kurmi and Nai.

Uthaigira.—(A picker-up of that which has fallen.) Synonym of Sanaurhia.

Utkala.—(A resident of Orissa.) One of the five orders of Pānch Gaur Brāhmans inhabiting Orissa.

Vadar or Wadewār.—(A stone-cutter.) Synonym of Beldār.

Vade, Wade.—(A carpenter.) A sept of Māria Gonds.

Vadra.—(A carpenter.) Subcaste of Kammala.

Vāghe.—(From vāgh, a tiger.) See Wāghya.

Vaidika.—(Reciter of the Vedas.) A title of Brāhmans.

Vaishnava.—(A worshipper of Vishnu.) A name for the mendicant orders of Vishnuite devotees and Bairāgis.

Vaishnava Sunār.—A group of Sunārs who claim to be Brāhmans. See Panchāl.

Vaishya.—Name of the third of the four classical castes. See Introduction. There is no Vaishya caste at present, but the Bania caste are considered, perhaps incorrectly, to be descended from the Vaishyas.

Vajantri, Wajantri.—(Musician.) A subcaste of Gurao. A synonym and section of Māng.

Vallabkachārya.—A Vishnuite sect and order of religious mendicants. See article Bairāgi.

Valmīka, Valmīki.—A subdivision of Khedāwāl Brāhmans who take their name from the sage Valmīka. A subcaste of Kāyasths.

Vamachari Sect.—Synonym for Vām-Mārgi.

Vāni.—Synonym for Bania.

Varāde, Warāde.—(A resident of Berār, a variant of Berāri, q.v.) A subcaste of Simpi or Marātha Darzi. A subcaste of Dhangar and Nai.

Varendra or Barendra.—A subcaste of Bengali Brāhmans.

Vartāti.—(Pure.) Subcaste of Andh.

Vasishta or Vashishta.—Name of a famous saint in classical literature. An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Vellāla.—The great cultivating caste of the Tamil country, to whom by general consent the first place in social esteem among the Tamil Sūdra castes is awarded. They have a strength of more than 2½ millions in India; in the Central Provinces there were in 1911 about 700 in Chānda, Nāgpur and other Districts. In the Madras Census Report of 1901, Mr. Francis gives an interesting description of the structure of the caste and its numerous territorial, occupational and other subdivisions. He shows also how groups from lower castes continually succeed in obtaining admission into the Vellāla community in the following passage: “Instances of members of other castes who have assumed the name and position of Vellālas are the Vettuva Vellālas, who are really Vettuvāns; the Puluva Vellālas, who are only Puluvāns; the Illam Vellālas, who are Panikkāns; the Karaiturai (lord of the shore) Vellālas, who are Karaiyāns; the Karukamattai (palmyra leaf stem) Vellālas, who are Balijas; the Guha (Rāma’s boatman) Vellālas, who are Sembadavāns; and the Irkuli Vellālas, who are Vannans. The children of dancing girls also often call themselves Mudali, and claim in time to be Vellālas, and even Paraiyāns assume the title of Pillai, and trust to its eventually enabling them to pass themselves off as members of the caste.” The Vellālas will not touch the plough with their own hands. Some of them abstain from flesh and liquor, and prohibit the remarriage of widows with a view to raising their social status.

Vidur.—A caste. A subcaste of Gondhali, Kasār, Komti, Kunbi, and Lohār, comprising persons of illegitimate descent.

Vīr.—Subcaste of Gopāl.

Vīrmushti.—A class of Bairāgis or religious mendicants.

Vishnu Swāmi.—A class of Bairāgis or religious mendicants.

Vishwāmitra.—Name of a famous saint in classical literature. An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Vyās.—A section of Brāhmans and of Agharia.

Waddār.—A name for Telugu Oddes or navvies in Chānda. A subcaste of Beldār.

Wadewār.—Synonym of Odde or Beldār in Chānda.

Wāghe.—(Wāgh or bāgh, a tiger.) A section of Koshti and Māna, a clan of Marātha.

Wāghmāre.—(Tiger-killer.) A clan of Arakh, Gopāl and Mahār.

Wakkaliga, Okkiliyan.—A Canarese caste of cultivators, of which a few representatives were returned from Nāgpur. They reside mainly in the Madura and Coimbatore Districts. The name is derived from the Canarese okkalu,⁵¹⁰ which means cultivation or agriculture.

Wakmar.—(One who left the pangat or caste feast while his fellows were eating.) Title of Hatkar.

Wāndhekar.—Subcaste of Kunbi.

Wanjāri.—Synonym for Banjāra. Subcaste of Kunbi.

Warāde.—(A resident of Berār.) Subcaste of Gurao.

Wārtki.—(A washerman.) Synonym for Dhobi in the Marātha country.

Wāsudeo, Wāsdeo.—The name of the father of Krishna, the Hindu god. Synonym of Basdewa. A subcaste of Joshi.

Watkari. See Otāri.

Wika.—Synonym for Uika, a well-known clan of Gonds.

Yādu, Yādava.—A well-known clan of Rājpūts.

Yādubansi.—(Of the Yadu race.) A subcaste of Ahīr.

Yādu-Bhatti.—Clan of Rājpūts. Synonym for Yādu.

Yajur-Vedi.—A subcaste of Brāhmans who follow the Yajur-Veda. They are also known as Madhyandan and Apastambha.

Yarande.—(One who presses the erandi or castor-oil seed.) Subcaste of Teli.

Yati.—(For Jati). A Jain ascetic.

Yelama.—Synonym of Velama.

Yogi.—Synonym of Jogi.

Yojna.—Subcaste of Komti.