The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

R >> R.V. Russell >> The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

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_Khadia_.--(A kind of snake.) A section of Ahir and Raghuvansi. A
sept of Nahal.

_Khadra_, [458] _Khadura_ or _Kharura_.--A small Uriya caste whose
occupation is to make brass ornaments. They are immigrants from
Cuttack and say that they are called there Sankhari, so that the
Khadras may not improbably be an offshoot of the Sankhari caste of
shell-cutters of Bengal. According to their traditions their original
ancestor was created by Viswakarma, the celestial architect, for the
business of making a pinnacle for the temple of Jagannath at Puri,
in which eight metals had to be combined. He left two sons, one of
whom became the ancestor of the Khadras, and the other of the Kasars,
with whom the Khadras thus claim affinity. They have no subcastes but
four _gotras_ or clans called after the Nag or cobra, the Singh or
lion, and Kasyap and Kachchap, both derived from the tortoise. They
also have four _bargas_ or family names, which are Patra (a term of
respect), Das (slave), Sao (banker) and Maharana (artificer). The
groups are supposed to be descended from four families who migrated
from Curtack. Neither _bargas_ nor _gotras_ are now considered in the
arrangement of marriages, which are prohibited between blood relatives
for three generations. Marriage is infant, and a girl arriving at
puberty while still unwed is permanently expelled from the caste. The
Khadras still follow the old rule of writing the _lagun_ or date
of the marriage on a palm-leaf, with which they send Rs. 10-4 as a
bride-price to the girl's father, the acceptance of this constituting
a confirmation of the betrothal. The marriage ceremony resembles
that of the other Uriya castes, and the Khadras have the rite called
_badapani_ or breaking the bachelorhood. A little water brought from
seven houses is sprinkled over the bridegroom and his loin-cloth is
then snatched away, leaving him naked. In this state he runs towards
his own house, but some boys are posted at a little distance who give
him a new cloth. Widow-marriage and divorce are permitted, but the
hand of a widow must not be sought so long as she remains in her late
husband's house, and does not return to her father. When a bachelor
marries a widow he must first perform the regular ceremony with a
leaf-cup filled with flowers, after which he can take the widow as
his second wife. All important agreements are confirmed by a peculiar
custom called _heskani_. A deer-skin is spread on the ground before
the caste committee, and the person making the agreement bows before
it a number of times. To break an agreement made by the _heskani_
rite is believed to involve terrible calamities. The Khadras eat the
flesh of animals and fish but not that of birds, and they do not drink
country liquor. When an estate is to be partitioned the eldest son
first takes a tenth of the whole in right of primogeniture and the
remainder is then divided equally. The Khadras rank as an artisan
caste of somewhat low status.

_Khadura_.--Synonym of Khadra.

_Khaijraha_.--(A resident of Khaira, a town in Central India.) Subcaste
of Chamar.

_Khair, Khaira_.--(From _khair_, catechu or the catechu tree. A maker
of catechu.) Synonym for Khairwar.

_Khairchura_.--(Carechu preparer.) A subcaste of Khairwar.

_Khaire_.--A subcaste of Are (Gondhali), Kanbi and Oraon.

_Khairwar_.--A catechu-making caste. A section of Chamar.

_Khaiyaware_.--(_Khai_, ditch; owing to their houses having been
originally built on the ditch of Hatta fort.) A section of Beldar
Sonkars in Damoh.

_Khaki_.--(From _khak_, ashes.) A class of Bairagi, or religious
mendicants.

_Khalifa_.--(Lord.) An honorific title for Darzis or tailors, and
Muhammadan barbers.

_Khaltaha_.--Subcaste of Ghasia.

_Khaltati_.--(Illegitimate.) Subcaste of Andh.

_Khaltia_.--Subcaste of Basdewa.

_Khamari_.--(Farmservant.) A section of Kolta.

_Khambi_.--(One who hides behind the graveyard.) A sept of Korku.

_Khanda_.--(A sword.) A section of Panka and Mahar.

_Khandait_.--(A swordsman.) An Uriya caste. A subcaste of Sansia,
Taonla and Chasa. Also a name of Koltas in Cuttack.

_Khandapatra_.--(One who cleans swords.) A section of Khandwal.

_Khandapi_.--(_Khanda_, a sword.) A sept of the Dhurwa clan of Sahdeve
or six-god Gonds in Betul, named after the sword of Raja Durga Shah
by which a victory was gained over the Muhammadans.

_Khandele_.--(From _khanda_, sword.) A section of Raghuvansi Rajputs
in Hoshangabad.

_Khandelwal_.--A subcaste of Bania.

_Khandeshi_.--(A resident of Khandesh.) A territorial subcaste of
Darzi, Joshi, Mahar and Mang.

_Khanne, Khanna_.--A subdivision of Chargarh Saraswat Brahmans in
Hoshangabad, probably deriving their name from being priests of the
Khanna section of Khatris. A section of Khatri.

_Khanonkha_.--(A kind of basket to catch birds with.) A totemistic
sept of Rautia Kawars in Bilaspur.

_Kharadi_.--(A turner, one who turns woodwork on a lathe.) A synonym
of Kundera and Barhai.

_Kharchi_.--Bastard Marathas forming a separate division as
distinguished from the Khasi or pure Marathas.

_Khare_.--A subdivision of Srivastab, Gaur and Saksena Kayasths,
meaning those of pure descent.

_Khari Bind Kewat_.--Title of the Murha caste.

_Kharodia_.--(A resident of Kharod in Bilaspur.) A subcaste of Nunia.

_Kharsisjha_.--(Maker of cowdung cakes.) A section of Mali.

_Kharwade_.--(Refuse.) A subcaste of Simpi or Maratha Darzi (tailor)
originally formed of excommunicated members of the caste, but now
occupying a position equal to other subcastes in Nagpur.

_Kharwar_.--Synonym of the Khairwar tribe. Subcaste of Chero and Kol.

_Khasi_.--A subdivision of Marathas, meaning those born in wedlock.

_Khasua_.--(A eunuch.) Synonym of Hijra.

_Khati_.--(From the Sanskrit _kskatri_, one who cuts.) A subcaste of
Barhai and Lohar.

_Khatik_.--A caste. Synonym of Chikwa. A subcaste of Pasi in Saugor,
said to have originated in a cross between a Bauri and a Khatik woman.

_Khatkudia_.--(Illegitimate.) A section of Teli in Betul.

_Khatri_.--A caste. A subcaste of Chhipa and of Sunar in Narsinghpur.

_Khatua_.--(Having a cot.) A section of the Hatwa caste.

_Khatulha_ or _Khatola_.--A subtribe of Gond.

_Khatulwar_.--A subtribe of Gonds in Chanda, the same as the Khatulha
of the northern Districts.

_Khawas_.--A title of Nai or barber. A subcaste of Dhuri. A section
of Halba.

_Khedawal_.--A subcaste of Gujarati Brahmans. They take their name
from Kheda or Kaira, a town in Gujarat.

_Khedule_.--From _kheda_, a village. Subcaste of Kunbi.

_Khendro_.--Subcaste of Oraon.

_Kheralawala_.--An immigrant from Kherala in Malwa. Subcaste of
Rangrez.

_Kherawal_.--See Khedawal.

_Kheti_.--(Cultivation.) A section of Dumal.

_Khewat_.--Synonym of Kewat.

_Khichi_.--A clan of Rajputs, a branch of the Sesodia clan.

_Khoba_.--(Sticks for fencing the grain-store.) A sept of Kawar;
they abstain from using these sticks.

_Khoksa_.--(A kind of fish.) A totemistic sept of Rautia Kawar in
Bilaspur.

_Khuntia_.--A subcaste of Agaria. One who uses a _khunti_ or peg to fix
the bellows in the ground for smelting iron. A sept of Savars. (Those
who bury their dead on a high place.)

_Khursam_.--A sept of Pardhan and Dhur Gond.

_Khutha_.--(Impure.) A section of Tamera in Mandla.

_Khyaurokar_.--(One who shaves, from _kshaur_, to shave.) A synonym
of Nai or Bhandari.

_Kilanaya_.--(_Kilna,_ a dog-house.) A nickname section of Ahir.

_Kilkila_.--(The kingfisher.) A sept of Khairwar.

_Killibusum_.--(One who eats dead animals.) A sept of Korku.

_Kindra_.--(One who hides behind a tree.) A sept of Korku.

_Kirachi_ or _Karachi_.--A sept of Gonds of Raipur and Betul.

_Kirad_.--Synonym of Kirar.

_Kirahiboijir_.--(A kind of fruit.) A section of Teli in Nandgaon.

_Kirar_.--A caste. Synonym Dhakar. A subcaste of Kachhi. A section
of Khatik.

_Kirnakha_.--A sept of Gonds in Chanda.

_Kirvant_ or _Kilvant_.--A subdivision of Maharashtra Brahmans in
Khairagarh. The name is said to be derived from _kira_, an insect,
because they kill insects in working their betel-vine gardens. Another
explanation is that the name is really Kriyavant, and that they
are so called because they conducted _kriya_ or funeral services, an
occupation which degraded them. A third form of the name is _Kramwant_
or reciters of the Veda.

_Kisan_.--(A cultivator.) Oraons are commonly known by this name in
Chota Nagpur and Gonds in Mandla and other Districts. A section of
Marar, Rawat or Ahir, and Savar.

_Koathia_.--A section of Bais Rajputs.

_Kochia_.--Perhaps a name for Bahnas or cotton cleaners.

_Kodjet_.--(A conqueror of crores of people.) A section of Bhulia.

_Kohistani_.--(A dweller on mountains.) A section of Pathan.

_Kohkatta_.--A sept of Gonds in Khairagarh.

_Kohri_.--A synonym for the Kohli caste.

_Koi_.--A class of Gonds.

_Koikopal_.--A subcaste of Gond.

_Koilabhut_ or _Koilabhuti_.--A subtribe of Gonds. Their women are
prostitutes.

_Koiri_.--A synonym of the Murao caste.

_Koitur_.--A synonym for Gond. The name by which the Gonds call
themselves in many Districts.

_Kokonasth_ or _Chitpavan_.--A subcaste of Maharashtra Brahmans
inhabiting the Konkan country. Chitpavan means the pure in heart.

_Koksinghia_.--_(Koka,_ the Brahmani duck.) A subsection of the
Pardhan section of Koltas.

_Kol_.--A tribe. Subcaste of Dahait.

_Kolabhut_.--A name for Gonds.

_Kolam_.--A tribe. A subtribe of Gonds in Chanda.

_Kolchar_.--A clan of Maratha.

_Kolia_.--(From _kolu_, oil-press.) A section of Teli in Betul.

_Koliha_.--(Jackal.) A section of Panwar Rajput, Chamar and Kawar.

_Kolita_, _Kulta_.--Synonyms of Kolta.

_Kolta_.--A caste. A subcaste of Chasa.

_Kolya_.--(One who hides behind a jackal-hole.) A sept of Korku.

_Komalwar_.--(_Komal_, soft.) A section of Kurumwar.

_Komati_.--Synonym of Komti.

_Kommu_.--(A story-teller.) Subcaste of Madgi.

_Kondawar_.--(_Konda_, a mountain.) A section of Palewar Dhimar and
Koshti in Chanda.

_Kondwan_ or _Kundi_.--A name of a tract south of the Mahanadi which is
called after the Khond tribe, and was formerly owned by them. Subcaste
of Baiga.

_Korai_.--A subcaste of Ahir or Rawat in Bilaspur.

_Koraku_.--(Young men.) Subcaste of Korwa.

_Koratkul_.--A section of Komti; they do not eat the _kumhra_
or pumpkin.

_Korava_.--Synonym of Yerukala.

_Korchamar_.--A descendant of alliances between Chamars and Koris or
weavers. Subcaste of Chamar.

_Kori_.--A caste. A subcaste of Balahi, Jaiswara Chamar and Katia.

_Korku_.--A tribe. A subtribe of Nahal.

_Korre_.--(Residents of the Korai hill-tract in Seoni.) Subcaste
of Injhwar.

_Kosaria_.--A subcaste of Rawat or Ahir, Barai, Dhobi, Kalar, Mali,
Panka and Teli; a section of Chamar and Gond.

_Koshti_, _Koshta_.--A caste of weavers. See article. A subcaste of
Katia and Bhulia.

_Koskati_.--A subcaste of Koshti.

_Kothari_--(A store-keeper, from _kotha_, a store-room.) A section
of Oswal and Maheshri Banias.

_Kotharya_.--(A store-keeper.) Subcaste of Chitrakathi.

_Kotwal_.--(Keeper of a castle, or a village watchman.) Honorific title
of the Khangar caste. A surname of Yajurvedi Brahmans in Saugor. A
section of Halba.

_Kotwar_.--A person holding the office of village watchman. This post
is usually assigned to members of the lowest or impure castes derived
from the aboriginal tribes, such as the Mahars, Ramosis, Gandas,
Pankas, Minas and Khangars. Some of these were or still are much
addicted to crime. The name _kotwar_ appears to be a corruption of
_kotwal_, the keeper or guardian of a _kot_ or castle. Under native
rule the kotwal was the chief of police in important towns, and the
central police office in some towns is still called the kotwali after
him. In some villages there are still to be found both a kotwal and
a kotwar; in this case the former performs the duties of watch and
ward of the village, and the latter has the menial work of carrying
messages, collecting supplies and so on. Both are paid by fixed
annual contributions of grain from the cultivators. In Hoshangabad
the kotwar is allowed to glean for a day in the fields of each tenant
after the crop has been removed. It would appear that the kotwar was
chosen from the criminal castes as a method of insurance. The kotwar
was held responsible for the good behaviour of his caste-fellows,
and was often under the obligation of making good any property stolen
by them. And if a theft occurred in another village and the thief was
traced into the borders of the kotwar's village he was bound to take
up the pursuit and show that the thief had passed beyond his village,
or to pay for the stolen property. Thieves were sometimes tracked by
the kotwar, and sometimes in Gujarat and Central India by a special
official called Paggal, [459] who measured their footprints with a
string, and in this way often followed them successfully from village
to village. [460] The rule that the kotwar had to make good all thefts
occurring in his village or perpetrated by criminals belonging to it,
can only have been enforced to a very partial extent, as unless he
could trace the property he would be unable to pay any substantial
sum out of his own means. Still, it apparently had a considerable
effect in the protection of property in the rural area, for which
the regular police probably did very little. It was similarly the
custom to employ a _chaukidar_ or night-watchman to guard private
houses when the owners could afford it, and this man was taken from
a criminal caste on the same principle.

The kotwar was also the guardian of the village boundaries, and his
opinion was often taken as authoritative in all cases of disputes
about land. This position he perhaps occupied as a representative of
the pre-Aryan tribes, the oldest residents of the country, and his
appointment may have also been partly based on the idea that it was
proper to employ one of them as the guardian of the village lands,
just as the priest of the village gods of the earth and fields was
usually taken from these tribes.

In some localities those members of an impure caste such as the
Mahars, who hold the office of village watchman, obtain a certain
rise in status on account of the office, and show a tendency to
marry among themselves. Similarly persons of the impure Ganda caste,
who joined the Kabirpanthi sect and now form a separate and somewhat
higher caste under the name of Panka, usually work as village watchmen
in preference to the Gandas. Under British rule the kotwar has been
retained as a village policeman, and his pay increased and generally
fixed in cash. Besides patrolling the village, he has to report all
cognisable crime at the nearest police post as well as births and
deaths occurring in the village, and must give general assistance
to the regular police in the detection of crime. Kotwar is used in
Saugor as a synonym for the Chadar caste. It is also a subcaste of
the Kori caste.

_Kowa_.--(A crow.) A section of Tamera and of Gond in Chanda.

_Koya_ A subtribe of Gond in Bastar.

_Koyudu_.--A synonym of Gond in Chanda used by Telugus.

_Kramikul_.--A section of Komti. They do not use the black radish.

_Kshatriya_.--Name of the second Hindu classical caste or the warrior
caste. Synonym for Rajput.

_Kshirsagar_.--(Ocean of Milk.) A section of Panwar Rajput, and a
proper name of Maratha Brahmans.

_Kuch_.--(A weaver's brush.) A section of Raghuvansi Rajputs in
Hoshangabad.

_Kuchbandhia_, _Kunchbandhia_.--(A maker of weavers' brushes.) Synonym
and subcaste of Beldar in Chhattisgarh.

_Kudaiya_.--(_Kodon_, a small millet.) A section of Ahir.

_Kudappa_.--A sept of Gonds in Raipur and Khairagarh.

_Kudarbohna_.--A Hindu Bhana.

_Kudaria_.--(_Kudali_, a pickaxe.) A section of the Bharia tribe.

_Kukra_.--(A dog.) A totemistic sept of Bhatra Gonds. A section
of Kumhar.

_Kukuta_.--(Cock.) A sept of Gonds in Raipur.

_Kulatia_.--A section of Basor. From _kulara_, a somersault, because
they perform somersaults at the time of the _maihir_ ceremony, or
eating the marriage cakes.

_Kuldip_.--(The lamp of the family.) A section of Panka in Raipur.

_Kuldiya_.--(Those who stop eating if the lamp goes out at supper.) A
section of Ghasia.

_Kulin_.--(Of high caste.) A well-known class of Bengali Brahmans. A
subdivision of Uriya Mahantis. A section of Panka.

_Kulshreshta_.--(Of good family.) A subcaste of Kayasth.

_Kuman_.--Subcaste of Barai.

_Kumarrha_ or _Kumarra_.--(A bird.) A sept of Sahdeve or six-god
Gonds. In Betul the members of this sept do not eat or kill a goat
or sheep, and throw away any article smelt by one.

_Kumarshishta_.--A section of Komti. They do not use _mehndi_ or
henna leaves.

_Kumbhar_.--(Potter.) Marathi synonym for Kumhar. A section of Ganda
and Bhulia.

_Kumbhoj_.--(Born of a pitcher, a Rishi or saint.) An eponymous
section of Agharia.

_Kumbhira_.--(Crocodile.) A totemistic sept of Bhulia.

_Kumbhwar_.--(_Kumbh_, a pot.) A surname of Gandli in Chanda.

_Kumharbans_.--(Descended from a potter.) A section of Ghasia.

_Kumrayete_.--(_Yete_, a goat.) A sept of the Uika clan of Sahdeve
or six-god Gonds in Betul. They do not eat goats, and are said to
have offered human sacrifices in ancient times.

_Kunbi_.--A caste. Subcaste of Dangri, Gondhali and Maratha.

_Kumrawat, [461] Patbina, Dangur_.--A small caste of _san_-hemp growers
and weavers of sacking. They are called Kumrawat in the northern
Districts and Patbina (_pat patti_, sacking, and _binna_, to weave)
in Chhattisgarh. A small colony of hemp-growers in the Betul District
are known as Dangur, probably from the _dang_ or wooden steelyard which
they use for weighing hemp. Both the Kumrawats and Dangurs claim Rajput
origin, and may be classed together. The caste of Barais or betel-vine
growers have a subcaste called Kumrawat, and the Kumrawats may be an
offshoot of the Barais, who split off from the parent body on taking
to the cultivation of hemp. As most Hindu castes have until recently
refused to grow hemp, the Kumrawats are often found concentrated in
single villages. Thus a number of Patbinas reside in Darri, a village
in the Khujji zamindari of Raipur, while the Dangurs are almost
all found in the village of Masod in Betul; in Jubbulpore Khapa is
their principal centre, and in Seoni the village of Deori. The three
divisions of the caste known by the names given above marry, as a rule,
among themselves. For their exogamous groups the Dangurs have usually
the names of different Rajput septs, the Kumrawats have territorial
names, and those of the Patbinas are derived from inanimate objects,
though they have no totemistic practices.

The number of girls in the caste is usually insufficient, and hence
they are married at a very early age. The boy's father, accompanied
by a few friends, goes to the girl's father and addresses a proposal
for marriage to him in the following terms: "You have planted a
tamarind tree which has borne fruit. I don't know whether you will
catch the fruit before it falls to the ground if I strike it with my
stick." The girl's father, if he approves of the match, says in reply,
'Why should I not catch it?' and the proposal for the marriage is
then made. The ceremony follows the customary ritual in the northern
Districts. When the family gods are worshipped, the women sit round a
grinding-stone and invite the ancestors of the family by name to attend
the wedding, at the same time placing a little cowdung in one of the
interstices of the stone. When they have invited all the names they
can remember they plaster up the remaining holes, saying, 'We can't
recollect any more names.' This appears to be a precaution intended
to imprison any spirits which may have been forgotten, and to prevent
them from exercising an evil influence on the marriage in revenge for
not having been invited. Among the Dangurs the bride and bridegroom
go to worship at Hanuman's shrine after the ceremony, and all along
the way the bride beats the bridegroom with a tamarind twig. The
dead are both buried and burnt, and mourning is observed during a
period of ten days for adults and of three days for children. But if
another child has been born to the mother after the one who has died,
the full period of mourning must be observed for the latter; because
it is said that in this case the mother does not tear off her _sari_
or body-cloth to make a winding-sheet for the child as she does when
her latest baby dies. The Kumrawats both grow and weave hemp, though
they have no longer anything like a monopoly of its cultivation. They
make the _gons_ or double bags used for carrying grain on bullocks. In
Chhattisgarh the status of the Patbinas is low, and no castes except
the most debased will take food or water from them. The Kumrawats of
Jubbulpore occupy a somewhat more respectable position and take rank
with Kachhis, though below the good cultivating castes. The Dangurs
of Betul will take food from the hands of the Kunbis.

_Kumrayete_.--(_Yete_, a goat.) A sept of the Uika clan of Sahdeve
or six-god Gonds in Betul. They do not eat goats, and are said to
have offered human sacrifices in ancient times.

_Kunbi_.--A caste. Subcaste of Dangri, Gondhali and Maratha.

_Kundera_.--A caste. A subcaste of the Larhia Beldars.

_Kundera_, _Kharadi_.--A small caste of wood-turners akin to the
Barhais or carpenters. In 1911 the caste numbered 120 persons,
principally in Saugor. When asked for the name of their caste they
not infrequently say that they are Rajputs; but they allow widows to
remarry, and their social customs and position are generally the same
as those of the Barhais. Both names of the caste are functional, being
derived from the Hindi _kund_, and the Arabic _kharat_, a lathe. Some
of them abstain from flesh and liquor, and wear the sacred thread,
merely with a view to improve their social position. The Kunderas
make toys from the _dudhi_ (_Holarrhena antidysenterica_) and huqqa
stems from the wood of the _khair_ or catechu tree. The toys are
commonly lacquered, and the surface is smoothed with a dried leaf of
the _kevara_ tree. [462] They also make chessmen, wooden flutes and
other articles.

_Kundgolakar_.--A subdivision of degraded Maratha Brahmans, the
offspring of adulterous connections.

_Kunjam_.--A sept of Solaha in Raipur. A section of Basor and
Bhunjia. A sept of Gond and Pardhan.

_Kunnatya_--(Rope-dancer.) A name applied to Nats.

_Kunti_ or _Kunte_.--(_Kunti_, lame.) A subcaste of Kapewar, synonym
Bhiksha Kunti or lame beggars.

_Kunwar_.--(Prince.) A title of Rajput ruling families. A section of
Rajput and Kawar.

_Kura Sasura_.--Husband's elder brother. Title of Kharia.

_Kurathiya_, _Kuratia_.--(From _kur_, a fowl, which they have given
up eating.) A subtribe of Gonds in Khairagarh.

_Kurha_ or _Sethia_.--Title of the Sonkar caste headman.

_Kurkere_.--One who moulds his vessels on a stone slab revolving on
a stick and not on a wheel. Subcaste of Kumhar.

_Kurmeta_.--A sept of Gonds in Chanda.

_Kurmgutia_.--(From _kurm_, tortoise.) A section of Mahar.

_Kurmi_.--A caste. A subcaste of Agharia in the Uriya country. A
subcaste of Barai. A sept of Pardhan. A section of Mahar.

_Kurochi_.--(_Kur_, hen.) A sept of the Uika clan of Sahdeve or
six-god Gonds in Betul, so named because their priest once stole a hen.

_Kurpachi_.--(_Kur_, hen.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in
Betul, so named because their priest offered the contents of a hen's
intestines to the gods.

_Kurru_ or _Kura_.--Title of Yerukala.

_Kusangia_.--(Of bad company.) A section of Lohar.

_Kushbansi_.--A subcaste of Ahir. (Descendants of Kush, one of the
two sons of Rama.)

_Kush Ranjan_.--A section of Brahman, Barai, Chamar, Chandnahu Kurmi,
Rawat (Ahir), Marar and Rajbhar.

_Kushta_, _Koshta_.--Subcaste of Kori.

_Kuslia_.--(_Kusli_, boat.) A subcaste of Mali.

_Kusram_.--_(Kusri_, pulse.) A sept of the Uika Gonds in Betul
and Chanda.

_Labhana_.--Synonym and subcaste of Banjara.

_Lad_.--The old name for the territory of Gujarat. A subcaste of Bania,
Kalar, Koshti and Sunar.

_Ladaimar_.--One who hunts jackals and sells and eats their
flesh. Subcaste of Jogi.

_Ladele_.--(Quarrelsome.) A section of Shribathri Teli.

_Ladjin_.--Subcaste of Banjara.

_Ladse_ or _Ladvi_.--Subcaste of Chamar and Dhangar.

_Ladwan_, _Ladvan_.--A subcaste of Mahar. Perhaps from Lad, the old
name of Gujarat.

_Laheri_.--Synonym of Lakhera.

_Laheria_.--Subcaste of Brahman.

_Lahgera_ or _Lahugera_.--(_Lahanga_, weaver.) A subcaste of Kori.

_Lahuri Sen_.--A subcaste of Barai in the northern Districts who are
formed of excommunicated members of the caste.

_Lahuria_.--(From Lahore.) A section of Rathor and Chauhan Banjaras.

_Lajjhar_.--Synonym of Rajjhar.

_Lakariha_.--A subdivision of Pardhan in Kawardha. While begging they
play a musical instrument, hence the name from _lakri_, a stick.

_Lala_.--(A term of endearment.) Synonym for Kayasth. A subcaste
of Chamar.

_Lalbegi_.--A follower of Lalbeg, patron saint of the sweepers. Synonym
of Mehtar.

_Lal Padri_.--Red priests, because they rub _geru_ or red ochre on
their bodies. Title of Jogi.