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

Rawat.—A title borne by some minor Rājpūt chiefs. Probably a diminutive of Rājpūtra, the original form of the term Rājpūt. An honorific title of Gonds and Savars in Saugor and Damoh. The name by which the Ahīr caste is generally known in Chhattīsgarh. A subcaste and title of Khairwār. A title sometimes used by Sunārs and Brāhmans in Bundelkhand and by Lodhis. A subcaste of Mehtar and Māli. A section of Arakh, Banjāra, Binjhwār, Dhanwār, Kawar, Khairwār, Kunbi, Nat, Patwa, Panwār Rājpūt, and Sudh.

Redka.—A small labouring caste of Sambalpur. They are apparently the result of intermarriages between some members of the Reddi or Kāpu cultivating caste of Telingāna, who came to Sambalpur during the Orissa famine of 1866, with low-class Uriya women. They still speak Telugu among themselves, using Uriya to outsiders. Only one curious feature of the marriage ceremony of the Redkas need be noticed here. This is that the officiating Brāhman actually places a red-hot copper seal on the arms of the bride and bridegroom as a symbol of sealing the marriage bond. In other respects their customs resemble those of low-caste Uriyas.

Rohilla.—A Pathan tribe who have settled in Rohilkhand or the Bareilly tract of the United Provinces. They derive their name from Roh, the designation given to the country where the Pushto language is spoken by residents of Hindustān. The word Roh, like Koh, means a mountain, and Rohilla therefore signifies a highlander.77 The Rohilla Pathāns occupied Rohilkhand in the eighteenth century. Their name first attracted attention when Warren Hastings was charged with hiring out British troops for their suppression. The Rohillas say that they are of Coptic origin, and that driven out of Egypt by one of the Pharaohs they wandered westward till they arrived under that part of the mountains of Afghānistān known as Sulaimani Koh.78 Parties of Rohillas visit the Central Provinces bringing woollen cloths and dried fruits for sale. Here they formerly bore a bad character, being accustomed to press the sale of their merchandise on the villagers on credit at exorbitant interest; and when the time for realisation came, to extort their money by threats of violence, or actual assault, or, if this was not practicable, by defiling the graves of their debtors’ ancestors. These practices have now, however, been largely suppressed.

Sahasra Audichya.—(A thousand men of the north.) A subdivision of Gujarāti Brāhmans who are said to have accepted presents from Rāja Mulrāj of Anhalwāra Pātan at a sacrifice, and hence to have suffered some degradation in rank. Audichya probably signifies coming from Oudh.

Sais.—The title by which grooms or horse-keepers are usually known. The word Sais, Colonel Temple states,79 is Arabic and signifies a nobleman; it is applied to grooms as an honorific title, in accordance with the common method of address among the lower castes. Other honorific designations for grooms, as given by Colonel Temple, are Bhagat or ‘Saint,’ and Panch, ‘Arbitrator,’ but neither of these is generally used in the Central Provinces. Another name for Saises is Thanwār, which means a person in charge of a stable or place where a horse is kept. Grooms from Northern India are usually of the Jaiswāra division of Chamārs, who take their name from the old town of Jais in Oudh; but they drop the Chamār and give Jaiswāra as their caste. These men are thin and wiry and can run behind their horses for long distances. The grooms indigenous to the Central Provinces are as a rule promoted grass-cutters and are either of the Ghasia (grass-cutter) or the Kori and Mahār (weaver) castes. They cannot usually run at all well. It is believed that both the Jaiswāras and Mahārs who work as grooms have taken to marrying among themselves and tend to form separate endogamous groups, because they consider themselves superior to the remainder of the caste. A Sais will frequently refuse to tie up a dog with a rope or lead him with one because he uses a rope for leading his horses. This taboo is noticed by Sir B. Fuller as follows: “Horses in India are led not by the bridle but by a thick cotton leading-rope which is passed over the headstall, and such a rope is carried by every Indian groom.

I asked my groom one day to tie up with his leading rope a dog that would not follow. He absolutely refused, and I discovered that the rope was the fetish of his caste and was formerly adored and propitiated in the course of an annual caste festival. To touch a dog with it would have been sacrilege.”80

Sakadwīpi.—A tribe of Brāhmans taking their name from Sakadwīpa, the country of the Sakas. The Sakas were a Central Asian tribe who invaded India before the commencement of the Christian era, and Sakadwīpa is said to be the valley of the Kābul river.