The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India,...

In appearance and character the Kohlis cannot be said to show much trace of distinction. The men wear a short white bandi or coat, and a small head-cloth only three feet long. This is often scarcely more than a handkerchief which tightly covers the crown, and terminates in knots, inelegant and cheap. The women wear glass bangles only on the left hand and brass or silver ones on the right, no doubt because glass ornaments would interfere with their work and get broken. Their cloth is drawn over the left shoulder instead of the right, a custom which they share with Gonds, Kāpewārs and Buruds. In appearance the caste are generally dirty. They are ignorant themselves and do not care that their children should be educated. Their custom of polygamy leads to family quarrels and excessive subdivision of property; thus in one village, Ashti, the proprietary right is divided into 192 shares. On this account they are seldom well-to-do. Their countenances are of a somewhat inferior type and generally dark in colour. In character they are peaceful and amenable, and have the reputation of being very respectful to Government officials, who as a consequence look on them with favour. ‘Their heart is good,’ a tahsīldār7 of the Bhandāra District remarked. If a guest comes to a Kohli, the host himself offers to wash his feet, and if the guest be a Brāhman, will insist on doing so. They eat flesh and fowls, but abstain from liquor. In social status they are on a level with the Mālis and a little below the regular cultivating castes.