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

A proverbial saying about the caste is ‘Gond Rāja, Parka Pardhān,’ or ‘The Gond is the master and the Parka the servant,’ and this also points to their connection with the Gonds. Several of their section names indicate their mixed origin, as Kumharia from Kumhār a potter, Gullia From Gaolia or milkman, Bhullia from Bhulia an Uriya weaver, Andwān a subcaste of the Mahār caste, Tilasia a sept of the Kawars, and so on. If a Parka man forms a connection with any woman of higher caste she will be admitted into the community, and the same privilege is accorded to a man of any equal or higher caste who may desire to marry a Parka girl. A girl is only cast out when she is discovered to have been living with a man of lower caste than the Parkas. All these facts indicate their mixed origin. As already seen, the caste are labourers, village watchmen-and musicians, and their customs resemble those of low-caste Hindus, but they rank above the impure castes. They will eat food cooked with water from Lodhis, many of whom are landowners in Jubbulpore, and as such no doubt stand to the Parka in the relation of employer to servant. Every year on the second day of Bhādon (August) they worship a four-sided iron plate and a spear, which latter is perhaps the emblem of the village watchman. Fines imposed for caste offences are sometimes expended in the purchase of vessels which thereafter become common property and are lent to any one who requires them.

Periki, Perki, Perka.—The Perikis are really a subcaste of the great Balija or Balji caste, but they have a lower position and are considered as a distinct group. About 4000 Perikis were returned in the Central Provinces in 1911 from the Nāgpur, Wardha and Chānda Districts. They derive their names from the perike or panniers in which they carried salt and grain on bullocks and donkeys. They were thus formerly a nomadic group, and like the Banjāras and Bhāmtas they also made gunny-bags and sacking. Most of them have now taken to cultivation, and in Madrās some Perikis have become large landholders and claim Rājpūt rank. In the Central Provinces the Balijas and Naidus deny that the Perikis have any connection with the Balija caste.