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

Chaudhri, Chaudhari, Choudhri.—(A headman, the first person.) Title of Kalār Panwār, Rājpūt and other castes; title of Dhobi, vice-president of the caste committee. A section of Ahīr, Maheshri Bania, Gadaria, Gūjar, Halba and Marār (Māli). A subdivision of Kāpewār.

Chaurāsia.—Resident of a Chaurāsi or estate of eighty-four villages. Subcaste of Barai and Bhoyar. A section of Dhīmar and Kumhār. Many estates are called by this name, grants of eighty-four villages having been commonly made under native rule.

Chenchuwār, Chenchuwād or Chenchu—A forest tribe of the Telugu country of whom a few persons were returned from the Chānda District in 1911. In Madras the tribe is known as Chenchu, and the affix wād or wādu merely signifies person or man.27 The marriage ceremony of the Chenchus may be mentioned on account of its simplicity. The couple sometimes simply run away together at night and return next day as husband and wife, or, if they perform a rite, walk round and round a bow and arrow stuck into the ground, while their relations bless them and throw rice on their heads. Each party to a marriage can terminate it at will without assigning any reason or observing any formality. The bodies of the dead are washed and then buried with their weapons.

Chero.28—A well-known tribe of the Munda or Kolarian family, found in small numbers in the Chota Nāgpur Feudatory States. They are believed to have been at one time the rulers of Bihār, where numerous monuments are attributed, according to the inquiries of Buchanan and Dalton, to the Kols and Cheros. “In Shāhābād29 also most of the ancient monuments are ascribed to the Cheros, and it is traditionally asserted that the whole country belonged to them in sovereignty. An inscription at Budh Gaya mentions one Phudi Chandra who is traditionally said to have been a Chero. The Cheros were expelled from Shāhābād, some say by the Sawaras (Saonrs), some say by a tribe called Hariha; and the date of their expulsion is conjectured to be between the fifth and sixth centuries of the Christian era. Both Cheros and Sawaras were considered by the Brāhmans of Shāhābād as impure or Mlechchas, but the Harihas are reported good Kshatriyas.

“The overthrow of the Cheros in Mithila and Magadha seems to have been complete. Once lords of the Gangetic provinces, they are now found in Shāhābād and other Bihār Districts only holding the meanest offices or concealing themselves in the woods skirting the hills occupied by their cousins, the Kharwārs; but in Palāmau they retained till a recent period the position they had lost elsewhere. A Chero family maintained almost an independent rule in that pargana till the accession of the British Government; they even attempted to hold their castles and strong places against that power, but were speedily subjugated, forced to pay revenue and submit to the laws. They were, however, allowed to retain their estates; and though the rights of the last Rāja of the race were purchased by Government in 1813, in consequence of his falling into arrears, the collateral branches of the family have extensive estates there still. According to their own traditions (they have no trustworthy annals) they have not been many generations in Palāmau. They invaded that country from Rohtās, and with the aid of Rājpūt chiefs, the ancestors of the Thakurais of Ranka and Chainpur drove out and supplanted a Rājpūt Rāja of the Raksel family, who retreated into Sargūja and established himself there.

“All the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military service grants of land, which they still retain. The Kharwārs were then the people of most consideration in Palāmau, and they allowed the Cheros to remain in peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sargūja. It is popularly asserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palāmau they numbered twelve thousand families, and the Kharwārs eighteen thousand; and if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he belongs, he will say, not that he is a Chero or a Kharwār, but that he belongs to the twelve thousand or to the eighteen thousand, as the case may be. The Palāmau Cheros now live strictly as Rājpūts and wear the paita or caste thread.”

In Palāmau30 the Cheros are now divided into two subcastes, the Bāra-hazār or twelve thousand, and the Terah-hazār or thirteen thousand, who are also known as Birbandhi. The former are the higher in rank and include most of the descendants of former ruling families, who assume the title Bābuān. The Terah-hazār are supposed to be the illegitimate offspring of the Bāra-hazār.

“The distinctive physical traits of the Cheros,” Colonel Dalton states, “have been considerably softened by the alliances with pure Hindu families, which their ancient power and large possessions enabled them to secure; but they appear to me still to exhibit an unmistakable Mongolian physiognomy. They vary in colour, but are usually of a light brown. They have, as a rule, high cheek-bones, small eyes obliquely set, and eyebrows to correspond, low broad noses, and large mouths with protuberant lips.”