Koli, of Berar, are the Mahadeo Koli, I3unkar Koli.
Kunbi constitute a large part of the cultivators in all Maharashtra, in the north-western parts of Hyderabad, in Berar (681,368 souls), in the Central Provinces.
The Kunbi, in Berar, allot themselves into 11 classes— Mali. 'Midi Mali. Sagar.
Jerat Mali. Gantadi. Takla.
Ful W Pazni.
anjari. Atole. Vindesa.
With the exception of the Balch Mali and Pazni, they have Roti vya whar amongst each other but not Beti vya whar, i.e. they eat with each other but do not intermarry. The Kunbi and Mali alone, of the Sudra people, are 834,588 souls. The Kunbi and Mali eat flesh, drink liquor in moderation, and their widows may all re-marry if they choose, except those of the desh mukh, who follow the high caste custom.
Since Berar came under British rule, many immigrants have added to its people, and the revenue has greatly improved. Receipts, Rs. 1,01,73,849 ; expenditure, Rs. 87,83,350 ; and there are now 896 schools, with 35,891 scholars.
The prominent religious sects are the Lingaet. Muhammadan. S anyasi.
Jain. Sikh. Byragi.
Vaislinava. Manbhao. Jogi.
Rai Dasi. Nanik Shahi. Gosain.
Religious mendicants Bhat. Gosawi. Waghe.
Thakur. Byragi. Dangat.
Gurao. Nath. Dandigan.
Manbhao. Gondhali.
Many deified persons— Krishna. Hanuman. Panehwai.
Siva. Rukmini. Satwai.
Ganpati, Ganesh. Kandoba. Asra.
Bhawani. Bhairava. Trees and plants.
Surya. Ram-das. Mari Mai.
Rama. Tukaram. Spirits, demons.
Parasurama. Maneshwar. . Cobra.
Vithoba.
Kandoba is largely worshipped in the Mahratta country, and is assumed to be an incarnation of Siva. In Berar, until lately, women used to swing themselves by iron hooks fastened into their flesh, after first naming their petition to the priest; in his honour, also, men drew strings of heavy carts by means of iron hooks fastened into their bodies. The Wagher beg in his name, and the Murali are devoted to him. Many houses have a silver imago of him, sword in band, on horseback, before which, on te Champa Shasti, they wave a copper platter, bearing cocoanut, jagari, turmeric, and sixteen small lamps made of dough. His votaries offer him brinjals and onions, which they may not use themselves before this day. He rides on a black dog, which is worshipped. He is wor shipped on Sunday, and is also called Martand (the sun).
Tho Kunbi and Mali worship at Muhammadan shrines. No non-Hindu is allowed to approach a temple ; his touching it is pollution. They have as deities, stones daubed. Sikhs are few in Hyderabad or Berar, and are mostly of mixed descent. The sect have a college at Nandeir, on the left bank of the Godavery. On the 10th day of the Dasara, in Berar, a married girl is wor shipped.
Some Mbar worship Vithoba, the god of the Pandarpur temple. Others worship Varnna's twin sons, Meghoni and Deghoni, and his four messengers, Gabriel, Azrail, Michael, and Anadin. They worship also Kali Nik, Wackach, Sari, Gan, Mai Kans, Dhondiba ; likewise the four Bhairava, Kal, Bhujang (snake), Samant, Andhut ; the heroes Bhima, Arjuna, Lachman, Ch'hatrapati (Sivaji), and others ; and the demons Aghya and Jaltia Vital. In their worship, some are said to officiate naked ; others with their clothes wet and clinging. The statues of Vithoba and Rukmini are nude. The Mang worship Mahadeo ; he swears by the dog. The Dukar Kolhati hunt the wild boar, and kill a boar when they worship Bhagwan every year or so.
The Manbhao are a small order of Ccenobites. They admit both sexes, who are celibates, though they form one community. They wear black clothes, and shave their heads. One of their principal mat'h or monasteries is at Rithpur, near Ellichpur. They are all over Maharashtra ; some have married and settled down in villages. They worship Krishna and Datatri ; they are of quiet, inoffensive manners, and their nuns and monks wear black clothes. Their number in Berar is only 3519. The sect was founded about the 17th century by Kishn Bhut, a Brahman, who is said to have had four sons by a woman of the Mhang or leather-worker race. At the present day celibacy is professed by the men and women, and both wear a black cloth tied round their waist, forming a skirt, to indicate that they do not recognise any distinction as to sex. Their name is said to be Maha Anubhao, great under standing, abbreviated into Manbhao. The Ghar bari are laymen, and the Byragi, who wear black clothes, are both monks and nuns. They are hated by the Brahmans. They do not admit the low-caste Mhar.