Brahmans are a numerous and influential race, most of them of Aryan origin, but they are kept apart by social and clan distinctions, and are distri buted throughout all India, in number 7,123,909, a third part of whom (2,754,100) being in Bengal. They are to be seen in every station in life, and in every avocation, as office-holders, learned men, fortune-tellers, guides to pilgrims, musicians, astrologers,, beggars, funeral performers, culti vators, priests in all parts of the country, and even coolies in Nepal. Brahmans of Orissa have two great divisions, the Vaidik or learned class, and the Laukik who engage in business, in hus bandry, as gardeners, and even as bricklayers.
Butia or Bhotea amongst the people of Hin dustan is applied to any Tibetan. Many are employed in the N. of Bhagulpur as coolies. Butia of Bhutan burn their dead, and throw the ashes into the nearest stream. They are Buddhist and shamanist.
Chandal or Oland (1,576,076) are a hardy race, capable of enduring considerable exposure and fatigue. In the Ramayana, the powerful prince of Oudh is represented as courting the alliance of Gohurka, a Chandal chief. They are now, throughout all korthern India and Bengal, in a subordinate position, usually as labourers.
Cheru (15,665), like the Bhar, were once dominant. They have a tradition that, starting from Moorung, they took Kamaon ; thence they made themselves masters of Bhojpur. Subse quently (1611) they took possession of Chum parun, and in 1613 occupied Palamow. Accord ing to another legend, they ruled in Behar, whence they were expelled by the Sivira, who were again thrust out. They claim to be descended from the great serpent, an indication of their Mongoloid origin. They eat flesh. Their women assist in the field labours. • The Dom, in Bengal 343,246, and in all India 721,655, are widely • dispersed throughout the northern parts of British India, dwelling outside the towns and villages apart from the settled population ; they have several sections. They work as blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, weavers, are miners and musicians, fan and basket makers, gravediggers, and executioners. They serve Europeans as sweepers, cooks, and their women as ayah ladies'-maids. Dom women are famed for their good looks, and are notoriously unchaste. They perform in the women's apartments. The Hindus do not permit them to draw water from the same wells. They construct the funeral pyres
of the Hindus, and supply the fire. They worship stones, to which they sacrifice fowls and goats.
Dosadh (1,138,654 —Nearly all in Bengal claim to be descendants of, and they worship as a demon, the astronomical umbra Rahn, the moon's ascending node, which they say causes eclipses.
Gaola in Bengal number 3,992,949. They are a pastoral race, following the same pursuits as the Ahir and the Gopa. They are as far south as Hyderabad in the Dekhan, but many have settled down in villages as dairymen, with large herds of cows and buffaloes. They are of strong, powerful frames. In Behar are turbulent, so greatly so, that Patna Gaola is a term of reproach.
Ghatwal (113,173).—Nearly all in Bengal are descendants of men who were employed in Behar in keeping the passes open.
Juanga, chiefly of Orissa, number only 529 in Bengal. Their women, until 1871, had as their sole covering a string of beads around their waists, into which they stuck a bunch of leaves before and another behind.
Kaibartha, in Bengal 2,100,379, and in India 2,137,540, are the great cultivators of Bengal, and many take Khasiya as their designation.
Kayasth, in Bengal 1,460,843, and 2,159,813 in all India, have twelve sections. They are essentially a caste of scribes, and are to be seen in the service of all the native courts, and in the offices of the Indian Government. They eat and drink freely. Their women are strictly secluded.
Khandait (617,017), from Khanda, a sword, are descendants of military retainers, who had their lands on a strictly military tenure, but are now undistinguishable from other husbandmen, They and the Paik are of a similar position.
Koch (1,878,884) are chiefly in Koch-Bahar, with numbers of them in Matsya-des and Kama rupa, i.e. in Rangpur, Lower Assam, and Purnia. The Koch kingdom was founded by Haju, about A.D. 1550. The Koch, Mech, and Bodo are often classed together, but Colonel Dalton regards these as distinct races. The Pali or Paliya are sup posed to be of Koch origin. They have several sections. With the Pani-Koch women, when they marry, property vests in the wife, and descends to her daughters ; the husband goes to the wife's house, and is subject to her. They sacrifice to the sun, moon, and stars, also to the deities of the woods, hills, and rivers, and to the manes of their progenitors.