Except so far as the ruling dynasties are a guide, no information was available of settlements in the district before the time of the Musalmans. The only classes of whose early history and information was traced were the Govardhan and the Yajurvedi Brahmans and the hill tribe of Thakurs. The facts that Govardhan is an old name for Nasik and the people of this caste hold many hereditary accountantships and some village priestships, make it probable that the Govardhans are the earliest Brahman settlers. They seem to have been ousted by the Yajurvedis, who are even now the leading priestly community, whose shakha or branch and whose marriage customs point to their having come to Nasik from Gujarat, while their friendly relations with Palshe or Madhyandin Brahmans from Thana favours the supposition that they came into Nasik through the ThaI pass. The Thakurs presumably are the earliest hill tribe, but their position on the high road through the ThaI pass and some of their customs seem to show that they have a strain of Rajput blood, which may be the result of the settlement in and near the ThaI pass of some of the tribes of Rajputs who have travelled inland up the Vaitarna valley.

In early Musalman times, besides the Muhammedans who may have come from Khandesh in the north-east and Daulatabad in the east, there was an immigration of Gujarat Tambats who fled from Champaner in the Panch Mahals when it was token by Mahmud Begada in 1484. In the seventeenth century there were further additions of Arabs and Upper India Musalmans, chiefly through power of the Peshva who drew Kanoja Brahmans from the north and Konkanasths, Karhadas and Devrukhas from the south. Under the British rule both Hindu and Musalman settlers have come in from every side. From the north have come Hindus, Pardeshis of many castes; and Momins and Banaras Muslims, from the east Marvad, Brahmans and Vanis through Berar and Kasars, Ladsakkas, Ravals and Niralis from Khandesh. From the south have come Mahars and Marathas and from South Deccan Lingayats and Komtis. Of the late­comers, the Gujarat Lohars are notable all of whom have readily adopted the speech, dress and even religious practices of early settlers.

The Hindu community is found divided into various socially differentiated groups known as castes. There are various sub-castes also. In consonance with the changes in Government policy, the Census enumeration has ceased to toke cognisance of these groups since 1941. However, the following castes grouped under 14 heads of Brahmans, Writers, Traders, Husbandmen, Craftsmen, Manufacturers, Bards and Actors, Servants, Herdsmen, Fishers, Labourers, early or Unsettled Tribes, Depressed classes and beggars as recorded in the old Nasik Gazetteer from the Census figures of 1872 hold good substantially even today.

Brahmans: Brahmans then formed 4.06 per cent of the whole Hindu population and the proportion would be nearly the same now. They are divided into 17 distinct groups known as Yajurvedis or Madhyandins, Deshasths, Chitpavans or Karhadas, Konkanasthas, Devrukhas, Kannvas, Telangs, Shenvis, Maitrayanis, Govardhans or Golaks, Sarasvats, Kanadas, Gujaratis, Marvadis, Kanojas, Pardeshis, and Madrasis.      ­

Brahmans found all over the district  are family priests, keepers of pilgrim houses, temple ministrants, pilgrim guides, and instructors, money-lenders and landholders. Government servants, pleaders and medical men. The local Brahman community includes Yajurvedis, Deshasths, Chitpavans, and Karhadas. They eat together and settle caste disputes according to the majority of votes. The meetings are generally held at Bhadra Kali's temple. The prosecutor or anuvadak states the case and the accused or prayaschitti makes his defence. Pandits cite their authorities, show the nature of the alleged offence and the penance prescribed and give their opinions on the case. The whole caste gathering sits in judgement and the votes of the majority decide the guilt or innocence of the accused. The proceed­ings and judgement are written and filed. Of late all this is slowly disappearing.

Yajurvedis: The largest and most important class of Brahmans are Yajurvedis or Madhyandins known as Shukla or White Yajurvedis. They have spread all over Maharashtra but their headquarters are in Nasik. They resemble Deshasths more. Nearly all are priestly families having patrons or Yajurvedis in different parts of India whose family trees are entered in huge account books and whom they attend and instruct when they come to Nasik as pilgrims.

The Madhyandins’ family records show that they have been in Nasik for nearly 600 years. They have patrons from so far as Rajputana and Punjab and among them was Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur, a contemporary of Aurangzeb and a prince from Nepal. In addition to payments by their patrons, some of the families receive yearly stipends from many Hindu princes. They never marry with any other class of Brahmans. During the last hundred years, differences between them and other Brahmans have greatly smoothed. They now call each other to religious ceremonies, officiate together on the banks of the Godavari, and do not object to sit in the same line at funeral feasts. Though most Madhyandins are well off, cases have not been uncommon of families setting their rights as local priests to Deshasths or Konkanasths. Of late their children now compete with the children of other classes of Brahmans in every; field, including Government employment and practice in the liberal professions. The Deshasths who are a smaller body than the Yajurvedis are generally well-to-do and a few of them are even rich. They are priests, hereditary village accountants, husbandmen, money-lenders, Govern­ment servants and legal and medical practitioners.

Chitpavans: Chitpavans or Konkanasths who first came to Nasik under the Peshva, have had many additions during the British rule. Besides being the seat of Raghunathrav and the mother and wife of Narayanrav, Nasik was the residence of many Maratha nobles, who maintained Chitpavan priests. Chitpavans are generally fair and well ­featured, clean in their habits and known for miserliness. Most of them are Government servants, teachers and pleaders. Since their settlement in the district, they have adopted a number of Yajurvedi and Deshasth customs. It is said that Bajirav Ⅱthe last Peshva, when performing some ceremony at Nasik, was by the local Brahmans, probably by Madhyandins, denied the use of the same flight of steps as the priests. This has been quoted as a proof of the inferior position which Konkanasths are said to hold among Brahmans. But it would appear more probable that it was the result of a feud between Bajirav and the Yajurvedis. There is no difference, at present, between the treatment of Konkanasths and other Brahman pilgrims at Nasik.

Karhadas who are found in very small numbers do not differ from Deshasths in look, speech and customs. They eat with them but marriage alliances between them are not frequent. The same is true about Devrukhas and Kannvas.

Sarasvats or Shenvis are in still smaller numbers. Being accustomed to eating fish as a habit from their coastal origin in Konkan, other Brahmans do not eat with them. In Nasik, they have a monastery, about 250 years old in honour of Purnanand, a Shenvi ascetic and high priest of the caste whose tomb it contains. The monastery is the property of the high priest of the Shenvis at Kavle in Goa. The Peshvas granted it an annual allowance of Rs. 300. The hereditary local manager is a Yajurvedi Brahman who is paid one-third of the allowance.

Govardhan Brahmans, otherwise known as Golaks or the progeny of Brahman widows are found in large numbers all over the district and form a separate caste having their own priests. Most of them are village accountants. The caste headman is usually some one with a smattering of Sanskrit, called a Vedia. Other Brahmans do not eat with them. From the name Govardhan which comes from one of the early cave inscriptions (A. D. 120) use as a name of Nasik and from their holding the post of village accountants, it seems probable that they are the representatives of the oldest Brahman settlers in the district. They may perhaps have been called Golaks, which is Manu’s name for the sons of  widows, because they continued to allow widow marriage after the later-arrived Brahmans had given up the practice. Govardhans are also to be found in Khandesh, western Poona and northern Konkan.

Kanoja: Kanoja Brahmans have come to Nasik from Kanoj, Allahabad and Benares in the service of the Maratha noblemen during the Maratha rule. They speak both Hindustani and Marathi. They do not eat flesh, nor drink. Their priests are Yajurvedi Brahmans and they have adopted many religious and social practices of the local Brahmans. They worship Shiva, Devi and Maruti. They neither eat  or marry with  Deccan Brahmans. This is more or less true of the Pardeshi, Marvadi and Gujarati Brahmans. The Dravidas are connected with the monastery of the Shankaracharya which was built in Panchavati by Nana Phadnavis towards the dose of the 18th century.

Marvadis: Among the mercantile, trading and shop-keeping classes Marvadis who have migrated from Marvar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Bikaner during the last three hundred years are most leading. Most of them have adopted Marathi for all intercourse with the Nasik people which they speak with a broad accent. They are now completely domiciled in Nasik. On his first arrival, a Marvadi is generally poor but his tenacity soon lifts him up, the help and co-operation of early settlers playing a great part in his rise. Having put together some money by dint of the strictest economy, the new arrival usually establishes himself in some small village and with the headman’s leave, begins to make grain advances called Vadididhi to be repaid at harvest time at from 25 to 100 per cent called savai and duni. He deals in all sorts of goods and daily necessaries. Though generally very dose-fisted, on occasions of marriage and like events, he asks his friends from great distances and feasts them regardless of expense. He educates his children in the local tongue and also in his native Marvadi, particularly accounts and book-keeping.

Lingayats: They have come in the district from Sholapur and other southern Maratha districts. There are seven sub-divisions among them, known as Pancham, Dixivant, Chilivant, Tiloris, Bandgar, Hatkar and Koshti. All are Marathi-speaking. In appearance, they are dark and live in small houses. Both men and women tie round the arm or hand from the neck and some hide in their turban an image of Shiva sometimes covered in red cloth. Among Panchams some are landlords, vatandars and money-lenders while others have token to cultivation. Bandgars, Hatkars, and Koshtis are mostly weavers. In token of their being devotees of Shiva, they generally rub ashes, bhasma, on their foreheads and arms. They never drink water from flowing streams or rivers, but use the water of cisterns or wells. They never eat clarified butter from leather cases called budlas. Their disputes are settled by a majority of votes of a mass meeting where the presence of a priest or Jangam of the Ciranti sub-division is necessary.

Konkanis: They are immigrants from Thana who spread into the Dangs and up the western spurs of the Sahyadri ranges. They call themselves Konkan Kunbis. Choosing sparsely-peopled places with tracts of waste arable land, they often shift their wattle and daub huts and occasionally go to their native homes to renew their connections. They stand the feverish western climate better than Nasik Kunbis, and have almost monopolised all hill cultivation. Except a few village headmen who hold hereditary grants, they are badly off.

Malis: Malis found in considerable numbers all over the district are of three sub-divisions, Phul, Halde or Bankar, and Jire. They neither eat together nor inter-marry. They dress like Kunbis and are Marathi-speaking. Most live in mud-walled, flat-roofed houses and the rest in houses of burnt or unburnt bricks. Except a few who are devotees of Vithoba of Pandharpur, all eat flesh, but never cow’s or buffalo’s flesh. They are known to be sober and  hard-working, most of them are husbandmen and the rest masons or labourers. A few are Government servants. Their women help them in husbandry and in selling flowers, fruits and vegetables. They worship Vithoba and Bhairoba. Some of them visit Pandharpur every year at fixed periods called varis. Their only two ceremonies are hair cutting or javal and marriage. Hair cutting tokes place in the case of girls within one and in the case of boys within two years after birth. Marriage age depends on the circumstances of the parents. Social disputes are settled by a majority of votes of a caste meeting and the decision given there is final. Their boys are sent to school but after they have learnt to read and write are withdrawn, only few going in for fuller education.

Marathas: Who are in large number have a good position in the villages. A few are deshmukhs, patils and clerks, constables or messengers and the rest husbandmen or labourers. Except the deshmukhs and landholders who are well-to-do and who live in good houses, most of them live in poor one-storeyed huts. Rich Marathas do not allow widow marriage, strictly enforce the zanana system and gosha and wear the sacred thread which is given at the time of marriage [Nasik Marathas have a special interest as the original seat of the Marathas is supposed to be in West Khandesh and Nasik (Grant Duff’s History 25; Briggs. Ferishta II, 320, 325; Hamilton’s Description of Hindustan, II, 183). In 246 B. C. Maharatta is noticed as one of the ten places to which Ashoka sent an embassy (Turnour's Mahavanso 71, 74). Maharashtra is mentioned in Chalukya inscription of the sixth century (580) as including three provinces and 99,000 villages (Ind. Ant. V. 68). In the seventh century (642) Maharashtra seems to have included the country as far South as Badami (Hiwen Thsang in Ind. Ant. VII 290). In 1015, Al Biruni mentions Maharatdes as beginning seventy-two miles.18 parganas, south of the Narbada (Elliot.s History I 60). In the thirteenth century Ziauddin Barni in writing of Ala-ud-din’s expedition of Devgiri notices that till then, the Marathas had never been punished by Musalman armies (Elliot.s History III 150). In the beginning of the 14th Century (1320) Friar Jordanus (Memorabilia) mentions the very great Kingdom of Maratha. Twenty years later (1342) Ibn Batuta notices the Marathas of Nandurbar in Khandesh as a people skilled in the arts, medicine, and astrology whose nobles were Brahmans (Lee’s Ibn Batuta, 164). In con­nection with the view that Nasik was part of the original seat of the Marathas, it may be noticed that two of the chief Maratha families, the Rajas of Satara and the Gaikwars of Baroda are connected with the district. Though they originally came from Poona, it was on the boundaries of Nasik that the Gaikwars first rose to power and the Gaikwar (Sir Sayaji Rao) is the soon of Patil of the village of Lalvan in Malegaon. The Bhonsale Patils of Vari in Sinnar have more than once been connected by marriage with the Rajas of Satara, by the last of whom one of the family was adopted.]

Thakurs: Rajputs or Thakurs found in small number throughout the district are of two sub-divisions. They are said to have come from Upper India in search of military service about 150 years ago. As a rule, they are toll, strongly made and dark brown. The men let their hair grow and wear the beard. They speak Hindustani at home, but they know Marathi well. The men dress like Marathas and the women in Pardeshi fashion with a robe, lahanga or phadki and a bodice or choli and when they go out a white sheet or chadari. They are clean in their habits, soldier-like, hot-tempered, hard-working and orderly. Their ancestors are said to have served under the Peshvas as soldiers and hill-fort guards. Now some are husbandmen, some keep grain and grocery shops, some are constables and messengers and a few are money-lenders. They eat animal food but do not touch fowl or cow and buffalo’s beef. They do not eat onions or drink and if any indulges in these, he is put out of caste. The men wear a sacred thread like the Deccani Brahmans which is given to them at the time of marriage. In their country, it is said that after child-birth women are held impure for six days, but the Nasik Rajputs follow the Deccan rule by which ceremonial impurity lasts for ten days. Widow marriage is not allowed. Marriages are performed in North Indian style, the bride and bridegroom being required to walk seven times round a pillar fixed in the marriage booth. Their household deity is Devi, in whose honour they keep a special holiday on the 8th day of the first half of Chaitra. They also worship Khandoba, Mahadev and Rama. Their priests are Kanoja Brahmans who officiate at their marriages. Their caste disputes are settled by a majority of votes of a caste meeting. They send their boys to school.

Pahadis: Pahadis who are believed to have come to Nasik from Upper Bengal according to Mr. J. A. Baines C. S. are found here and there all over the district. They are mostly vegetable-sellers, the women selling retail and the men exporting chillis and other vegetables. The bulk of their produce goes by rail to Bombay. Their home speech is Marathi. They do not differ in appearance from ordinary Kunbis or Marathas. They have reputation of being hard-working and sober. They generally live in one-storeyed houses with brick walls and tiled roofs. They eat flesh and drink liquor. Their staple diet is rice, millet, bread and pulses of different kinds. There is nothing special about they eat on festive and marriage occasions. Their home and outdoor dress is not different from that worn by Kunbis and Malis. They hold Margashirsh 6th of the first half called Champa Shashthi in special reverence offering new millet, onions and brinjals to their gods as first fruits. naivedya, and then eating the offerings. In marriages, neither the parents of the bride or the bridegroom toke any dowry. Widow marriage is allowed and practised. Besides marriage the only ceremony is javal rakhane or shaving the heads of the boys. This tokes place either in the child’s fifth or seventh year when a caste dinner is given. They dine with Vanjaris and Malis but not with Kunbis or Marathas. They worship Bhavani, Khandoba, Bhairoba, and other gods and in some cases Musalman saints. Yajurvedi Brahmans officiate as priests at their marriages. Caste disputes are settled in accordance with a majority of votes at a caste meeting. Children are sent to school but not allowed to stay there for long. They are hard-working and generally well-off. Tirguls found only in Chandor are believed to have come from Poona. Ahmadnagar and Aurangabad. They are an orderly people and specially they are skilful in growing the betel vine.

Craftsmen: Craftsmen include fifteen classes, viz., Sonars (gold­smiths), Shimpis (tailors), Suitors (carpenters), Kumbhars (potters), Lohars (blacksmiths), Kasars (coppersmiths), Jingars or Panchals (saddlers), Gavandis (masons), Ghisadis (tinkers), Otaris (casters), Patvekars (silk-tassel makers), Lakheras (bangle-makers).

Sonars: Sonars have four sub-divisions who neither eat with one another nor inter-marry. They are Lad, Ahir, Panchal and Devangan. They are concentrated chiefly in Nasik city. They claim to have been very early settlers and have no tradition of having come from somewhere else. They speak Marathi at home, dress like Brahmans and resemble them in their manners and customs of the four classes. Panchals are very few. Except Devangans who are strict vegetarians, all eat flesh. Most of them live in well-built houses with walls of burnt bricks and one or more storeys. Except a few who are Government servants, they work as goldsmiths. Lads and Devangans wear the sacred thread, the Lads being invested with it at marriage, and the Devangans, undergoing the regular Brahman thread ceremony, when about eight years old. Yajurvedi Brahmans officiate as priests on marriage and other occasions. They worship Khandoba, Bhairoba and Bhavani. Their caste disputes are settled by a majority of votes at a caste meeting. They send their boys to school. Their calling, they say, has suffered much of late, yet as a class they continue to be fairly off.

Shimpis: Shimpis or tailors are of three kinds, Jains, Ahirs, and Namvanshis, now called Namdev Shimpis after the great devotee of that name [Namdev, believed to be the oldest Maratha poet-saint, is said to have been a contemporary of the great Kabir and to have flourished in the 12th or 13th century. He was a great devotee of Vithala. As a writer of abhangas he was second only to Tukaram. He dwells on the praises of Vithal associating him with the Supreme, in the pantheistic sense and taking refuge in his favour and expecting rest if not absorption, in his being. He is author of the popular piece known as Haripath. [Dr. Wilson (1857) Preface to Molesworth's Marathi and English Dictionary XXV]. The three sub-divisions neither eat together nor inter­marry. Jain Shimpis are a very small class. The other two divisions are found in large numbers in Nasik town and district. Fair, clean and hard-working, they live in mud-walled, tiled or thatched houses and except the Jains, toke animal food. They earn their living as tailors, cloth-sellers and money-Ienders. Several of the tailors have been using sewing machines. Their women, besides doing household work, help their husbands by making and mending clothes. Ahir and Namdev Shimpis worship Khandoba, Bhairoba and Bhavani and are also devotees of Vithoba of Pandharpur and Mahadev of Trimbak, whereas the Jains are Shravaks and devotees of Parasnath. Their priests are Yajurvedi Brahmans. Caste disputes are settled by a majority of votes at a caste meeting of adult male members. Shimpis are generally well-to-do and send their boys to school.

Suitors: Suitors or carpenters are found throughout the district but are specially numerous in towns. They are very useful to husband­men. Clean in their habits and a shade fairer than Kunbis, they dress like Brahmans and neither eat animal food nor drink liquor. Almost all follow their ancestral profession, find work and earn good wages in towns and villages. They worship Khandoba, Bhairoba, Devi and Vithoba. Caste disputes are settled by a majority of votes at a mass meeting of caste men. They send their boys to school. They are seldom unemployed and fairly off.

Kumbhars: Kumbhars or potters found in almost every village make and sell earthen tiles and pots. As a class, they are poorly off, most of the large pottery works in Nasik and Igatpuri having passed to Saurashtra Kumbhars who have monopoly and specialised in making better class of bricks.

Lohars: Lohars or blacksmiths are found in very small numbers, their number has considerably declined owing to the competition of Jingars and Lohars from Gujarat who were driven to seek shelter in Nasik because of famine in Saurashtra. Their home speech was originally Gujarati but now they are almost like Kunbis, speaking Marathi even at home and following Kunbi manners and customs. They worship Kalika, Renuka of Junagad but their priests are Deccani Brahmans.

Kasars: Kasars or coppersmiths said to have come from Khandesh are found chiefly in Nasik and in small number in Chandor, Yeola, Malegaon, Baglana and Nandgaon. Generally fair in appearance and clean in their habits, their dress differs little from that of Brahmans. They speak Marathi, live in strongly-built houses, mostly with more than one storey. They do not eat animal food nor drink liquor. They make and sell brass and copper vessels of various sorts and deal in bangles, needles, thread and other miscellaneous articles. Except that widow marriage is allowed, their manners and customs differ little from those of Brahmans. Their chief gods are Khandoba, Bhairoba and Devi. They are religious-minded worshipping their household gods daily before dining. Their priests are Yajurvedi Brahmans. Social disputes are settled by a majority vote at a meeting of the caste. They send their children to school. They are a hard-working and prosperous community.

Tambats: Tambats or coppersmiths found in the village of Ozar in Niphad and Nasik are said to have come from Pavagad when it fell into the hands of Mahmud Begada in 1464. Their first settlement was at Ozar where they are supposed to have remained till the begin­ning of the last century when their village was plundered by Pendharis. They still have a settlement of Ozar, many of them came to Nasik where they have given their names to two streets, old and new Tambatvada. In appearance and in home speech they still retain and reveal their Gujarati origin. The men have adopted the Maratha Brahman head-dress but the women keep to the Gujarati petticoat, robe and bodice. They use neither animal food nor liquor. They live in rich strongly-built houses and are a clean, orderly, hard-working and prosperous class whose skill in making brass and copper vessels is known all over western India. They are still devout worshippers of the Pavagad Mahakali though the Deccan god Khandoba has gained a footing in many a household. Their priests are Gujarati Brahmans who are also said to have come from Pavagad. They are a prosperous class and send their boys to school.

Jingars: Jingars or saddlers also called Panchals are found chiefly in Nasik. They speak .Marathi and eat flesh. Their own croft of making wood and cloth saddles has passed away and they have been forced to work as tin-makers. They worship Rama and Krishna and claim Kshatriya descent.

Govandis: Govandis or masons wander in search of work. In the rainy season they earn their living as labourers and a few as farmworkers. On the whole they are badly off.

Ghisadis: Ghisadis are a class of travelling tinkers who make and mend iron field tools. Their women help them in their work.

Otaris: Otaris or metal moulders make and sell brass idols and toe-rings. Patvekars string and set gems and make fringes, tassels and silk net-work. They are found in large towns. As a class they are poorly off. Kataris also called Katari Thakurs are chiefly found in Nasik and Yeola. They are turners, wood-carvers and their name as well as their art points to their Gujarat origin. Some of the Nasik carved woodwork is rich, varied and picturesque as any in Gujarat. They are generally fair, wear the sacred thread and dress like Brahmans.

Occupational classes: Manufacturers include seven classes, viz., Telis (oil-pressers), Salis (weavers), Koshtis (weavers), Khatris (weavers), Rangaris (dyers), Ravals (weavers), Niralis (weavers), Khatris, Salis and Koshtis weave cotton and some Khatris and Salis weave silk. Vinkars found at Sinnar, Yeola, Malegaon weave cotton and silk stuff of various sorts. Silk-weaving in Nasik town is carried on to a smaller extent than in Yeola where the Gujarati Leva and Kadva Kunbis use the most expensive materials. Ravals said to have come from Khandesh are followers of Gorakhnath and so wear ochre-coloured clothes but some dress almost like Kunbis. Their home tongue is Ahirani or Khandeshi but those in Nasik speak Marathi. They worship Gorakhnath and also Khandoba and Bhavani. Most of them work in the houses of Salis. Their caste disputes are settled at a caste meeting by majority votes. Niralis found only in Sinnar and Yeola are said to have been indigo-sellers and to have come from Khandesh and Ahmadnagar about two hundred years ago. Rather slightly made, brown-skinned, they speak Marathi and both men and women dress in the ordinary Marathi style. They are clean in their habit and as debtors have a great name for honesty. The decline in the demand for Khandesh indigo forced them to give up their old trade. Now they work as handloom weavers and are poorly off. Though they have no religious feeling against animal diet, they eat flesh only at marriage parties. They seem to be partly Lingayats, accosting their caste fellows by lord Sarnath and returning the salutation in the words Shiva Sarnath. Among them after child-birth, on the tenth day, sweetmeats are distributed among friends and relations. Widow marriage under the Gandharva or Mohtur form is allowed. When a man dies, the body is covered with flowers and sandal and perfume (gandh) and it is dressed in a new waist-cloth. A woman’s body is adorned with turmeric and saffron and a folded betel-leaf is laid on the mouth. They never bury their dead. They worship Mahadev and Bhavani and observe the Pradosh and Shivaratri fasts in honour of Shiva. Social disputes are settled by a committee whose decision is final. They send their boys to school. Among Bards and Actors are Guravs, Kolhatis, Bhats, Ghadsis and Joharis. Guravs or drummers are of two divisions, Shaivas and Gasrat. They do not inter-marry. Many of them wear their hair matted, rub ashes on their bodies and serve at Shiva temples living on the offerings made to the deity. Some look and dress like Brahmans and have hereditary rights as temple tenders. They do not toke flesh or liquor. Besides serving at Shiva temples, they play on the drum, pakhvas, at marriages or in the train of dancing girls and boys. Many make leaf plates and cups, sell them on marriage occasions and in return receive yearly payments of grain from husbandmen. Some among them revere Muslim saints. Their priest, Upadhyaya, is a member of their own caste. In his absence they call a Yajurvedi Brahman. Disputes are settled at caste meetings. If anyone is found eating flesh or drinking liquor, he is put out of caste and is not allowed to join till he has paid for a caste dinner or if he is poor, for betelnuts and leaves. Some of them send their boys to school.

Kolhatis: Kolhatis or tumblers are of four sub-divisions Dombari, Jadhav, Pavar, and Shinde, the last three of which eat together and inter-marry. They are fair, especially the women and speak Marathi mixed with Kannada, Gujarati and Hindustani. They live in huts made of rosha grass which they carry from place to place on donkeys or their own heads. They maintain themselves mostly by showing feats of strength and gymnastics with rope-dancing, though a few sell mattresses and dolls and beg in the fields. They never work as labourers. Anyone who works is put out of caste and is not re-admitted except on payment of a fine of from a handful of tobacco leaves to Rs. 10. They are Hindus but some among them worship Muslim saints. They also worship the cow and the river Godavari. They have no priests. Their disputes are settled at caste meetings called on marriage and other occasions.

Bhats: Bhats generally called Gaon Bhats are bards who appear on marriage occasions, recite Hindustani verses, Kavita, with great force arid eloquence and receive some present in cloth or money. They wear their moustaches twisted into long curls. They eat flesh. They allow widow marriage.

Ghadsis: Ghadsis are temple musicians and their head-quarters are at Jejuri and Pandharpur. Joharis or jewellers are believed to have come from Upper India. Some speak Hindustani and others Marathi. They eat flesh but only the smaller kinds of game. They earn their living by giving brass pots in exchange for gold thread work and lace borders. Some deal in false pearls, some sell beads and some labour. They practise widow marriage. Their priests are Yajurvedi Brahmans, but a Kanoja Brahman generally officiates at their marriages. At marriages, the brow ornaments, bashings, worn by the bride and the groom are of date palm leaves. They worship the images of Devi, Khandoba and Mahadev and hold in reverence the Udasis who are a sort of Gosavis said to have come from Panjab and who are Nanakpanthis in belief and have a monastery, akhada or math, at Trimbak. Joharis settle their disputes at caste meetings. Some of them send boys to school. Marriages are always celebrated at night-after nine o’clock, the bridegroom wearing a yellow or red robe reaching the feet.

Balutedars: Among personal servants, barbers and washermen, known as Nhavis and Parits respectively, there are divisions. Nhavis are of four kinds, Bundelkhandi, Marvadi, Gujarati and Kunbi. The first three are in Nasik town only, the fourth all over the district. Besides shaving, the Bundelkhandi Nhavis bear torches at processions and Kunbi Nhavis act as musicians i.e., Vajantris at marriage and other processions. The few Kunbi Nhavis in Nasik enjoy the sole right of shaving pilgrims at the Godavari. Parits are either local or northwest and Bengali immigrants called dhobis. These washermen add to their earnings by tilling a field or two. At Hindu marriages, it is the duty of the washermen to spread cloths on the ground for the women of the bridegroom side to walk on as they go in procession to the bride’s house.

Dhangars and Gavlis: Herdsmen and shepherds are of two classes, Dhangars and Gavlis. The former, except a few, are found mostly in the lands to the south of the Ajanta range. They come from Akola and Sangamner where their headmen live. They are of five sub-divisions, Lad, Ahir, Shegar, Khutekar and Hatkar [A Musalman story gives the following origin of the word Hatkar: A certain dhangar, one of the Moghul Viceroy’s guard was in the habit of saluting his master every day, but of never waiting after he had made his bow. The courtiers told him that he ought to treat the Viceroy with great respect. But he kept to his usual practice. His conduct was at last brought to the notice of the Viceroy. As a punishment, the Viceroy ordered the door by which the dhangar came to be closed with swords. The dhangar regardless of the wounds passed through the swords, made his bow and at once came out. The Viceroy pleased with his spirit favoured him and gave him the name of Hatkar or stubborn-Berar Gazetteer, p. 200.] All of them, neither eat together nor inter-marry. Except the Hatkars who keep sheep, cows, buffaloes and sometimes serve as sepoys, all are blanket weavers. They are very dark in complexion and are taller and slimmer than Kunbis. They come every year to the Sahyadris with heads of sheep, goats and ponies. Sometimes they have homed cattle too. In the fair season, when manure is scarce and valuable, they earn a good deal from Kunbis by penning their flocks in the open fields. They maintain a good breed of dogs and have peculiar way of gelding ponies. Except those who sell wood or blankets they are seldom seen in towns and except the settled Dhangars who are well off, they are as a class poor.

Gavlis, shrewder than Dhangars, generally keep to towns and large villages where there is a steady demand for their milk and clarified butter. They are skilled in breeding cows and buffaloes and both men and women are adept in treating the diseases of animals.

Bhois and Kahars: Fishers are of two classes Bhois and Kahars. Bhois again belong to two classes, those who live in the north and others who live to the south of Chandor or Saptashring hills. The northern Bhois are Khandeshis. They call themselves Kunbis and some Kunbis do eat with them. The two classes of Bhois do not inter-marry. Besides their regular trade of netting fish, the Bhois are occasionally hereditary ferrymen and grow melons in river-beds. Kahars are carriers and palanquin-bearers and also resort to fishing. Dhivars  which is another class of them are fishers, ferrymen and melon-growers, according to Mr. W. Ramsay C. S.

Labourers: Labourers and miscellaneous workers include Par­deshis, Beldars, Lonaris, Khatiks, Patharvats, Pendharis, Pardhis, Buruds, Tadis, Kamatis, Halvais, Tombolis, Kalaikars, Bhujaris, Kalals, Kathiwadis and Bhadbunjas.

Pardeshis: Pardeshis, though they have little knowledge of their original caste, are mostly Ahirs. Many of them had come to the district to get service in the garrisons of hill-forts [In proof of this, it may be stated that all Pardeshi villages with their headmen and money-lenders are within fort limits as Patta, Kannad, Bitangad and Bhaula – Mr. J. A. Baines, C. S.] Ahirs are of three divisions Gavli, Bansi and Jat Bansi and are found in Sinnar, Dindori, Chandor, Malegaon and Baglana. They are believed to have come from Upper India about 300 years ago and bear a good character for sobriety and honesty in their dealings. Some have token to tillage, some labour and work as household servants while the rest sell and deal in milk. Besides Ahirs, there are among Nasik Pard eshis Kachars, i.e. glass bangle makers, Chetris or Khatris the original fort garrisons, Rajputs of different clans and Brahmans some of whom are money-lenders. As a rule, Pardeshis are taller and thinner, and have slighter moustaches than most Nasik Hindus. Some of them have settled in villages and get on pretty well with the Kunbis. In other villages they are known as the fighting class. Some, specially in Trimbak, are known as Purbi Brahmans. The greater part of the non-cultivators are policemen, domestic servants of moneylenders. A good many Pardeshis have token to the lower grades of the Forest Department and make active guards.

Beldars: Beldars, stone masons, found in mountainous parts of the District are of two classes, Pardeshi and Vad Beldars. The two classes do not inter-marry. They speak Hindustani at home and Marathi abroad. They eat flesh. Their women wear the robe, a petti­coat not tucking the end between the legs. They are properly quarry­men but some contract to square stone for builders. Some labour and some work as brick-layers making clay-walls. They worship Khandoba, Bhavani and the Musalman saint, Daval Malil of Mulher in Baglana. Their priests are Yajurvedi Brahmans who name their children two days after birth. A woman is considered impure for 12 days after child-birth. All widow marriages toke place on a fixed night in the dark half of the month. Caste disputes are settled in accordance with the majority votes at a meeting of adult males. Drinking and flesh-eating are not forbidden.

Patharvats: Patharvats or stone-cutters claim Rajput descent and say that they were once soldiers. They are generally dark and strongly made. They wear a flat Maratha turban. Their home tongue is said to have been Hindustani, but they now speak Marathi at home and everywhere. They eat flesh and mutton but not beef. Many smoke and some chew tobacco. They are a clean, hard-working class, mostly stone-cutters though some have token to tillage and even labour. Their houses have generally mud walls and thatched roofs. Their family priests are Yajurvedi Brahmans. A Bhat from Balapur near Akola comes every five or ten years and reads their pedigree books before them. He is treated with great respect and paid a good fee. They are both Shaivas and Vaishnavas in religion. Their house­hold deities are Khandoba, Bhairoba, Devi, Krishna and Ganapati. Funeral ceremonies are performed on the 12th day after death, if the deceased has no son and on the 13th if he has a son. After a man’s funeral, the bier-bearers and after a married woman’s funeral, thirteen married women are fed on the 13th day. Widow marriage is allowed. Disputes are settled by a caste council under the president­ship of the headman who receives a turban on the settlement of the dispute. They are a poor class living from hand to mouth.

Lonaris: Lonaris, besides carrying salt, bring to the large towns logs of firewood and packs of lime gravel. Many of them are fairly off and own a good stock of cattle or ponies.

Khatiks: Khatiks, i.e., butchers are both Hindus and Musalmans, the Hindus selling only mutton, Musalmans both beef and mutton.

Jats: Jats found mostly in Malegaon are regarded as an honest class not unlike Kunbis in appearance and living by tillage.

Pendharis: Pendharis of three sub-divisions, Maratha, Gond and Mang are found chiefly in Malegaon and Baglana. They are believed to be descendants of Pendhari freebooters of the early years of the past century and except the Baglana Pendharis who deal in grain and carry it to Malegaon for sale are mostly labourers and husbandmen.  

Pardhis: Pardhis are hunters who snare and net hares, partridges and deer.

Buruds : Buruds, basket and mat makers, are everywhere. The appearance and calling of the Buruds combine to show that they are one of the earliest tribes. They are generally dark in complexion and speak Marathi, their pronunciation differing little from that of the Kunbis. They eat fish and mutton. Most of them deal in bamboos and plait baskets. A few keep carts for hire but none of them work as labourers. After child-birth women remain impure for 12 days. They consult Brahmans about a child’s name. Widow marriage is allowed. They are Shaivas and their household deities are Khandoba, Bhairoba and Bhavani. Some time ago, enthusiasm for Shiva worship led many Buruds in Nasik and Ahmadnagar to tie a Linga round their necks like the Lingayats. The feeling passed away and the practice was given up except when their spiritual guide visited them. Bamboos required to carry a dead body are sold by every Burud. They have no headmen and their disputes are settled by a majority vote in a meeting of the adults of the caste. They are a poor declining community barely able to earn their daily bread. Some of them send their children to school.

Kamathis: Kamathis of four sub-divisions, Maratha, Mang, Mahar and Telang are mostly found in Malegaon and appear to have settled in the district since the overthrow of the Peshva. Most of them are labourers.

Komtis: Komtis from Karnataka have been settled in the district from fifty to sixty years. They speak Telugu at home and Marathi elsewhere. They earn their living by selling beads, sacred threads, needles, small metal pots, pieces of sandal wood and basil garlands. Others do so by mending and selling old worn-out clothes and some by begging. They ask Deccan Brahmans to officiate at their marriages. Their priest lives in a monastery at Varsuvargal near Hyderabad and occasionally visits Nasik. Their caste disputes are settled at a meeting of adult males of the caste by their religious head or his assistant Ankara, whose duty it is to settle the disputes referred to him by the high priest.

Tombolis: Tombolis do not belong to the district. Some seem to have come from Gujarat and others from North India. They are well off cultivating or letting out betel-leaf gardens.

Halvais: Halvais, professional makers and sellers of sweetmeats, are a Pardeshi class who call themselves Kshatriya Pardeshis.

Bhujaris: Bhujaris are a branch of Kayats from Upper India. They are of four sub-divisions Bhustom, Mathalbhat, Nagavand and Sakshiri. They neither eat together nor inter-marry. Rather dark-­skinned they speak Hindustani at home and Marathi elsewhere. Their women dress like Pardeshis and the men like Kunbis and Marathas. They use animal food. Some make and sell sweetmeats and, others let carts for hire but their chief calling as their name implies is frying grain. The work is generally done by their women. Brahman women may often be seen at their shops with parcels of millets, wheat, gram, pulses, and udid used in making the cake called kodale.     .

Kathiavadis: Kathiavadis from Gujarat and Saurashtra are said to be Rajputs, driven to Nasik by famine conditions in their native land. They are a hard-working and orderly class. They speak Gujarati at home and Marathi elsewhere. Most of them live in huts with mud walls and thatched roofs. Most of them are potters making bricks, tiles and clay vessels. Same deal in grass and some have taken to tillage and others to labour. They eat mutton and their staple food is wheat, millet, rice, nagli and udid pulse. Their caste dinners generally consist of Gujarati sweetmeats called gulpapdi. The men wear trousers and cotton robe and roll waist-cloths round their heads. They name their children after can suiting their family priests, who are Gujarat Brahmans whom they treat with great respect. After child-birth the mother does not appear in public for three months. They either bury their dead or burn them. For ten days, visitors at the house of mourning are offered a pipe and a meal of rice and pulse, khichadi. Marriages are celebrated only in the month of Magh. Though they have taken to worshipping Khandoba, Bhairoba and Bhavani, their chief god is Ramdepir whose principal shrine is in Malva. Caste disputes are settled by a mass meeting presided over by the headman. Their children are sent to school. They are a poor class living from hand to mouth. Bhadbhunjas are grain parchers who sometimes sell grains.

Unsettled Tribes: Unsettled Tribes are 12, and form nearly one-­fourth of the Hindu population. They are Kolis, Bhils, Vanjaris, Thakurs, Varlis, Vadars, Kaikadis, Katkaris, Vaidus, Kangaris, Bhamtas or Uchlas and Berads.

Kolis: Kolis who are found all along the Sahyadri and Akola hills are a fine looking race, the most civilised and settled of all bill tribes. They belong to three classes, Malhar, Dhor and Raj. In appearance and customs they differ little from Nasik Kunbis. They grow bill grains, pulses, oilseeds and rice. They have taken firmly to tillage and their husbandry is not less skilful than that of the local Kunbis. Koli girls are seldom married till they are twelve or fourteen. The bridegroom’s father goes to the bride’s father, asks for his daughter and pays a suitable sum and grain to him. If the bride’s father is satisfied, the marriage soon takes place. The rites and customs are the same as at Kunbi weddings. The girl brings a few ornaments from her father’s house and those received from the bridegroom are looked upon as lent rather than given. They usually bury their dead. A caste meeting is held on the 12th day after a death and a feast is given. The chief mourners are considered impure for ten days but no shraddhas or other funeral ceremonies are performed.

Bhils: Bhils seem to have come into the district from the Dangs. In the north they are found in Kalvan, Baglana and Malegaon and in the south they are settled in some of the rich tracts. They are strong and active race, good watchmen, and living chiefly by gathering such forest produce as honey and lac. They are not allowed to move from place to place without giving notice to the villages. In 1869 Baglana money-lenders were pressing their debtors with a view to securing a hold on their land. Armed groups of Bhils went from village to village plundering money-lenders houses of bonds. Their spirit of discontent and sense of hardship and wrong showed itself in open acts of outrage and it was feared that the spark of violence, once lighted, would spread among cognate tribes of the Sahyadri and Satpuda hills and rise into a flame of rebellion that would take long to stamp out [A remark from Mr. James. Memorandum, 7].

Vanjaris: Vanjaris or Lamans whose calling as carriers on backs of bullocks has fallen into disuse, because of the railways and trucks or roads, belong to two classes, husbandmen and carriers. The husbandmen have settled in villages and except by the men’s larger and round-brimmed turban and their special surnames and family names, they can scarcely be distinguished from Kunbis. They speak Marathi at home and their women have now given up their high-­peaked head dress. The wandering Vanjaris still keep to their peculiar dress and their dialect, akin to Marvadi. Some Vanjaris from Indore side constantly add to their numbers, though their trade of taking grain and tobacco on bullocks. backs to the coast and bringing salt in return has almost disappeared.

Lads: Lads [From material supplied by Raghoji Trimbak Sanap, Lad was the name in common use for south Gujarat from second to the thirteenth century-see Bombay Gazetteer, XII, 57, foot-note], the most important of the Vanjari sub-divisions also found in Balaghats near Ahmadnagar and in Gwalior, are scattered over the whole district. In their appearance, food, character, occupation, they hardly differ from the other Vanjaris [The Vanjari story of the great Durgadevi famine which lasted from 1396 to 1407 is that it was named from Durga, a Lad Vanjari woman, who had amassed great wealth and owned a million pack-bullocks which she used in bringing grain from Nepal, Burmah and China. She distributed the grain among starving people and gained the honourable title Jagamata, Mother of the World.].Their household gods are Khandoba, Bhairoba, Devi and Ganapati and they have also an image representing their ancestors, called Vadilancha tak. In villages where there is a temple of Maruti, they worship there daily. They wear the sacred thread and eat, though do not marry, with Khudane and Mahrune Vanjaris. As is the custom among the twiceborn (dvija) classes, the members of the same family stock or gotra do not marry. The two most important of their marriage ceremonies are telvan or anointing and devak. For the performance of telvan, the bride and bridegroom are required to fast on the marriage day till nine in the morning. A washerwoman plays the chief part in the ceremony. She ties some betel leaves to an arrow, dips them into oil and sprinkles the oil on the bride and the bridegroom. She then repeats the names of their ancestors, sings for a while and dipping two betelnuts into water, bores a hole through the nuts and ties them with a woman’s hair, one each on the wrists of the bride and the bridegroom. A dinner is then given to the party assembled. The devak ceremony tokes place almost immediately after. It is performed by a married couple, the hems of whose robes are tied together. The woman carries in a bamboo basket, sup, certain articles of food, shidha, and with them a cake made of wheat flour mixed with molasses and coloured yellow with turmeric powder and the man carries an axe and a rope. The pair followed by the marriage party, then walk to the temple of Maruti, a piece of broad cloth being held over their heads all the way. In the temple, the ministering Gurav or his wife stands waiting for them with a bundle of small twigs of five trees, the mango, the jambul, umbar, Savdanti and Rui. The articles of food are  kept by the Gurav or his wife, but the cake is returned in the bamboo basket with the five twigs which are called panchpalvi. The twigs are held in great reverence and tied round a post in the marriage booth. When the twigs have been fastened to the post, the marriage can be celebrated in spite of any obstacle, but without the devak, marriage cannot take place. Though it takes place on the marriage day, the devak is sometimes performed earlier, if there is reason to fear that anything may stand in the way of the marriage [Births or deaths among relations or ceremonial impurity of the bride or bridegroom’s mother are the obstacles meant.].

One custom, peculiar to Vanjaris, though not uncommon among the upper classes, is for the sister of the bridegroom to close the door of his house, and on his return with the bride after the completion of the marriage, to ask her brother to give his daughter in marriage to her son. The bride promises to do this and the door is opened. Their death ceremonies hardly differ from those of other Vanjaris and though burning is the rule, no objection is taken to the poor burying. Caste disputes are settled by a meeting of respectable members, under the presidentship of the chief male member of the Sanap Chandrarav’s family. If the accused is found guilty and is not able to pay a fine, he is made to stand before the caste meeting and crave pardon with his sandals on his head.

Thakurs : Thakurs are met with chiefly in the hilly parts of Igatpuri and Nasik along the Akola and Sahyadri ranges. Among Hindus they theoretically hold a good position equal to or above the Kunbi and many of their surnames are said to be purely Sanskrit. An inscription found in the possession of a Thakur at Igatpuri translated in 1878, seems to show that as far back as about 650, they were known as Thakurs and some of them held positions of importance. They would seem to be descendants of Rajputs who settled in the ThaI pass and married Koli women. In appearance, Thakurs, though short, are fairer than Bhils, well-made and strong. The men have a good name for honesty and the women for chastity. The men wear a scanty loin-cloth, langoti, and the women, a peculiar head-dress like a porkpie drawing their sari tight over the top and knotting over the temples. The men wear no metal ornaments, but generally go about with a quantity of wild-creeper pods and round egg-sized gourds tied round the waist, clattering as they walk. They carry a reaping hook, koita, stuck behind them into a bit of wood fastened to a waist-band of stout wild plantain fibre. They are very clever in the use of their spears, whose blades are about a foot long and from two to two and a half inches broad. The bamboo handles are sixty-seven feet long and from four to six inches in circumference round. Armed with these, three or four Thakurs walk almost straight to a bigger tiger. Though a few enjoy good positions as village headmen, most are labourers eking out a living by bringing to the market head-loads of firewood. They have eight chief yearly festivals, Vaishakh Shuddha 3rd (May); Ashadh Vadya 30th (July); Shravan Shuddha 5th, Nagapanchami (July-August); Shravan Vadya 30th (August-September); Ashvin Shuddha 10th, Dasara (October) ; Ashvin Vadya 30th, Divali (October-November), Magh Shuddha 2nd (February) and Phalgun Shuddha 15th, Holi (March-April). The most important of these is the Holi festival, a time of revelry and rough merry-making. The women gather in numbers and carrying round a dish of red powder, ask for gifts from every one within reach. The men get up shows of oddly dressed beggars and expect gifts for the performance. The observance is much the same as among Kunbis, except that the women of the wilder tribes seem to lose all their shyness and roam about demanding money and chasing the men all over the place.

 

Varlis: Varlis perhaps originally Varalis or uplanders are found in Feint and on the Sahyadris. Their name seems to appear in Varalatta, the most northerly but one of the seven Hindu Konkans [Troyer's Raja Tarangini. T, 491] Like Thakurs they live part of the year on the grains they raise and for the rest almost entirely depend on the roots of the Kavdhari tree and on Karanda berries. Besides these, they eat some sixteen or seventeen roots and leaves.

Kand and Bhaji: As a class they are poorly clad. Their language is rather peculiar with many strange words [Some of their peculiar words are: here at there tat, an old man davar, an old woman dosi, a young man bandga, a young woman bandgi, a blanket, jhingour. a servant kamara and clarified butter, gaylel.]. They move their huts every two or three years and except beef eat flesh of all kinds. They are great tobacco-smokers.

Vadars:, Vadars, delvers and quarrymen of three divisions, Mati, Gadi and Jat are believed to have come from Pandharpur, Sholapur, Satara and Jamkhandi, though according to a local story, they have been long settled at Nasik and built many of the district forts [According to another account, except at Sinnar where they have been for about 25 years, they can hardly be said to have settled, and are always wandering from village to village in search of work.]. They speak Telugu at home and Marathi elsewhere. They live like Vaidus in small tents, pals, and eat fish and flesh. Except a few labourers, they are all earth workers. The Mati Vadars generally work in digging and other earth work on roads, dams and wells. Gadi Vadars break stones and serve as quarrymen, supplying stones for building purposes. Jat Vadars prepare and sell grinding stones. Social disputes are settled by a council whose decision is subject to the approval of the adult members of the caste.

Katkaris: Katkaris, originally immigrants from the Konkan, are a forest tribe, seldom found beyond the limits of the Sahyadris. They are the poorest of Nasik forest tribes. Among the least poverty­-stricken, the women draw a ragged shoulder-cloth across the breasts. They speak corrupt Marathi using now and then some Gujarati words. They chiefly live on roots and herbs and eat flesh. Though the use of beef is said to be forbidden, one branch of the tribe called dhor Katkaris eat beef, but are not for. that reason treated as a separate sub-division. Forest conservancy has put a stop to their former craft of making catechu. Except a few catechu-makers in the neighbouring native states, they work as field labourers or gather and sell firewood. Their gods are Chaide and Mhasoba, but ghosts and demons, bhuts and pishachs, are their favourite objects of worship. They have no priests and themselves officiate at marriage ceremonies. Disputes are settled by a council appointed for that purpose but the decision must be approved by a mass meeting of tribesmen.

Kaikadis: Kaikadis Support themselves by basket making and stone cutting and as a class are orderly.

Vaidus: Vaidus, medicine hawkers, are found wandering throughout the district. They are of five sub-divisions Nhu, Mali, Mirjumali, Dhangar and Koli Vaidus, who neither eat together nor inter-marry. All are said to have come from Karnataka. They are dark and strongly made. Mirjumali Vaidus, probably called after the Mirya hill, near Ratnagiri which is famous for its healing herbs, wear the beard, while the rest shave the chin. They generally camp outside the towns in cloth tents, paIs, which they carry with the on the backs of asses. On halting at a village or town, they walk through the streets and lanes with two bags full of medicines, tied to both ends or the same end of a stick, calling out Mandur Vaid, or drug, selling doctor, or Nadi Pariksha Vaid, i.e., pulse feeling doctor. They speak Kannada and Telugu at home and a corrupt Marathi and or Hindustani with customers. They eat flesh except beef. They never touch food cooked by Musalmans or Chamlihars. They wear ochre-coloured clothes like Gosavis and have the same dress in and outdoors. They are well-off and contented. They gather healing herbs and roots and hawk them from village to village. They worship Venkoba, Mahadev, Bhavani and Maruti. The Dhangar Vaidus are said to call Brahmans to officiate at their marriages and other Vaidus are said to manage all their ceremonies themselves. Social disputes are settled at caste meetings. They are not allowed to work as labourers and if anyone is found working for hire, he is thrown out of caste and not allowed back till he has given a caste feast. They do not observe any fasts. A woman is held impure for five days after child-birth. Except marriage, no rites are observed from birth to death.

Bhamtas: Bhamtas or Uchlas are mainly to be found in Niphad and Chandor. They are Telangis who have lived in the district for over two hundred years. They are regarded as having been driven northwards by a famine. They are strongly made and except that they are a shade darker, they do not differ from local Hindus. At home they speak Telugu and elsewhere a rough Marathi. If a man and woman are caught in an intrigue, the woman’s head and the man’s head and face are shaved, they are forced to drink cow’s urine and the man has to pay for a caste feast. If an intrigue is suspected but is denied, a council of the caste inquires into the matter and if they are satisfied that there is ground for suspicion, nothing is done to the woman but the man is fined Rs. 50. If the man refuses to pay and denies the intrigue, his truth is tested by an ordeal. To test his truth about 80 lb. of sesamum are crushed in a newly-washed oil mill and the oil is poured into a large iron pot and boiled. When it is boiling, a stone weighting 12 pice is thrown into the oil. The man and woman bathe and toke the stone out of the boiling oil. If either of them is scalded, they are made to pay the fine and if they do not pay, they are put out of caste. The fine is spent on a caste dinner.

If there is a dispute between a creditor and a borrower about a loan for which no bond has been passed and if the debtor denies that he got the money, the council meet and the debtor is made to pick a rupee laid on the ground, close to where the Council are seated. If he picks the rupee, he is asked to pick a pimpal leaf. If he picks the leaf, the dispute is settled in his favour.

All do not inter-marry. Only certain families marry with certain families. Marriage does not take place till both the boy and girl are of age. They fix the day without asking any priest. On the marriage day, two little tents are pitched at the bride’s house. In one of these the bride sits and in the other the bridegroom, each alone. At sunset, the bride’s brother tokes the groom to the bride’s tent and. knotting together the hems of their clothes withdraws. The husband and wife spend the night together and next morning, the maternal uncle of the bride unties the knot, receiving a present of Rs. 100. The marriage is completed without any religious rites. Though flesh-eaters, they never eat beef. They keep the same fasts and holidays as other Hindus. They worship Devi and Khandoba. They bury their dead without performing any rite.

Berads: Berads, found only in Malegaon, are of three kinds, Berads proper, Maratha Berads and Mang Berads. They are mostly labourers living from hand to mouth.

Depressed Classes: Depressed Classes are ten and form about 15 per cent of the Hindu population. They are Mahars or Watchmen, Chambhars or tanners, Mangs or rope-makers and servants, Ramoshis, Halema, Mochis or shoe-makers, Bhangis or scavengers, Mang-Garudis or snake-charmers and dancers, Dhors and Dheds or sweepers.

Mahars: Mahars are found in huts on the outskirts of almost all villages. Their sub-divisions are Somavanshi, Domb, Adran, Ladian, Chelkar, Pular, Sutad, Dhed, Pan Ghadoshi Bavcha, Gopal and Rati. Somavanshi is the only one found in strength in the district. They are generally dark and strongly made. They speak Marathi both at home and everywhere else. A few are well-housed but most live in huts with mud walls and thatched roofs. They eat mutton and hens. Their staple food is wheat, millet and nagli. On festive days, puran polis are eaten. Many of them hold grants of lands as village servants and watchmen [In most large villages, there is some feud between Kunbis and Mhars. As village servants, Mhars claim and Kunbis refuse them a share of the grain crop. In one or two instances, the dispute has been carried to the High Court. Mr. J. A. Baines, C. S.]. Others are husbandmen and labourers and some serve in infantry regiments. Mahars have gained considerably as a result of the operation of railways, many of them having secured steady and well-paid employment as workers on the line. They worship Bhairoba, Khandoba, Ai Bhavani and Mahadev. Their chief places of pilgrimage are Nasik, Trimbak, Pandharpur, Paithan and Puntamba in Ahmadnagar district. They keep all Hindu holidays. Somavanshis especially observe Bhadri or seventh day of the bright half of Bhadrapad (August-September). On that day, seven dough lamps are made and lighted, balls of wheat flour are offered to the spirit of the lamps and a dinner is given of rice, milk and clarified butter. Their priests are hereditary sadhus and saints of their own caste called Mahar Gosavis. A bhat usually officiates at their marriages. They sometimes consult village Brahmans about a child’s name or lucky day and hour of marriage. They have also- devotees or... bhagats of Khandoba called Vaghe, of Vithoba called Hardasas and of Bhavani called Bhute. These bhagats who claim supernatural powers and are believed to be at times possessed by gods, generally gain a living by begging or by preaching to their caste fellows. The bhagats do not hold their kirtans or preachings in private houses but in the Mahars. rest-houses where the Mahars generally meet. The subject of these kirtans is in most cases a story chosen from such books as Ramavijaya, Harivijaya and Pandavapratap. They are very often held in the month of Shravan (July-August). Corresponding to investiture with the sacred thread, they have a peculiar ceremony called kanshravni or ear-cleansing. It is performed for both boys and girls after the child is five years old. It is usually held on the 11th day of any Hindu month. Rice and flowers are laid before a Mahar Gosavi who offers them to a tin image of Mahadev. If a child is a boy, the priest seats him on his right leg and on his left if the child is a girl. He then breathes into the child’s ear, repeating the words Nama Shiva Krishna Hari. This ends the ceremony and the Gosavi becomes the child’s spiritual guide, guru. Except in a few minor points, their marriage customs differ little from those performed by Chambhars [A Mahar's marriage ceremony differs from a Chambhar's in three respects: (1) The bridegroom’s brow ornament is tied an hour or two before the time fixed for the wedding and the party then go to the temple of Maruti. (2) After betelnuts and leaves have been distributed among the men, and turmeric and saffron among the women, the married pair offer sesamum seeds and rice and clarified butter and walk four or five times round the sacrificial fire. (3) Baskets of various dainties are exchanged between the two families after the groom returns from the bride’s house.]. Widow marriage and polygamy were allowed. Caste disputes are settled at a meeting of the men, presided by the headman.

Chambhars: Mehetar Chambhars or tanners are found in considerable numbers over almost the whole district. They are ten sub-divisions, Dakshini, Dhor-Dakshini, Pardeshi, Hindustani, Pardeshi-Mang, Bengali, Madrasi, Jingar, Mochi and Marvadi. Of these, the Dakshini and Dhor-Dakshini are found in large numbers throughout the district and the rest in particular places such as Nasik and Bhagur. The sub­divisions neither eat together nor inter-marry.                               

Dakshini Chambhars seem to have been long settled in the district. They are generally dark but have nothing in their appearance different from Kunbis. They are hard-working. They speak Marathi. They make shoes and leather water-bags, their women helping them. They live in one-storied houses. Their usual food is pulses and bread. They wear the ordinary Kunbi's dress. On the occasion of betrothal, at a caste meeting, clothes and ornaments are given to the bride and a silk waste thread, called kargota and a coconut to the bride-groom. Then, according to the convenience of bath parties and in consultation with a Yajurvedi Brahman, a lucky day and hour are chosen for marriage. Before marriage a Brahman is asked to fix the time for rubbing the boy with turmeric and he generally chooses a day three or four days before the marriage. After the bay has been rubbed, some of the turmeric is, too the accompaniment of music, taken to the bride’s house by a party of the groom’s women relations and friends. On reaching her house, the bride is rubbed with the turmeric and presented some clothes and ornaments. On the marriage day, about a couple of hours before the appointed time, the bridegroom riding on a horse, goes in procession to the temple of Maruti followed by his male and female relations and friends. His sister, and if he has no sister some female relation, sits behind him if she is a young girl or if she is grown up, walks behind him, holding a brass vessel with a bunch of beads and some betel leaves and coconut placed over the mouth. At the temple, the bride­groom is decked in a paper crown and receives a turban and such other presents at the bride’s house. On his way and at the bride’s dwelling, a coconut or a piece of bread is waved in front of his head and thrown away. The rest of the ceremonies differ little from those observed by the higher castes. A piece of turmeric-coloured cloth is held between the pair while the priest keeps repeating auspicious verses and throwing grains of rice and millets on the bride and the bridegroom. At the lucky moment, the cloth is snatched away and the guests clapping their hands join the priest in throwing grains while the couple encircle each other’s necks with flower garlands or yellow threads. Then betels are distributed to men and turmeric and kumkum to the women. After this the couple presents five married women with some wheat or rice, five dry dates and five betel-nuts. The pair then tie, each on the other’s right wrist, a yellow thread with a piece of turmeric fastened to it. In the evening, the bride’s father gives a dinner to the bridegroom and his relations and friends. This usually consists of ordinary food, pulse and bread but if the people are well-to-do, rich food is prepared. The bridegroom’s father gives a dinner the next day called Ulpha, to the bride’s relations and friends at which cooked rice, sugar and butter and sometimes pulse and bread are served.

On the third day, at a ceremony called Mandar or Phal Bharne, the bride is presented with clothes and ornaments and a small quantity of wheat or rice, a piece of coconut kernel, some dry dates, almonds and betel-nuts are laid in her lap. The parents and relations of both sides give and receive presents of clothes. Then the bridegroom’s mother and her female relations and friends, walking on white clothes, go in procession with music to the bride’s house. On reaching the bride’s house, all the women bathe and if he can afford it are presented with glass bangles by the bride’s father. The three days that the bridegroom spends at the bride’s house, the bride’s father gives to the bridegroom’s party two dinners. On the fourth day both parties form a procession called Varat and with music and fireworks accompany the couple on horseback to the house of the bridegroom. On the day after the bridegroom’s return to his house his father gives a dinner to all his caste fellows, the turmeric is taken from the wrists of the couple and traces of it are washed away.

Polygamy and widow marriage are allowed, but it is not considered right for a man to marry a second wife unless the first is dead or barren. They have a rule that bachelors cannot marry widow. A widow’s husband must be a widower or a married man. They either bum or bury their dead. When they bury, the body is laid in the grave dressed in a turban and other clothes and the deceased’s eldest son, followed by others of the party, throws in handfuls of dust. When they bum the dead, the eldest son sets fire to the pile, walks thrice round the corpse with an earthen vessel full of water on his shoulders, dashes the water-pot to the ground and cries aloud. The funeral party then returns home and disposes after chewing a few nim melia asachirachta leaves. On the next day the earth of the grave is levelled or if the body has been burnt, the ashes are thrown into some pool or river. On the tenth day, rice or wheat balls are offered to the ancestors of the deceased, some of them are thrown into the river and the rest left for the crows. The party that has gone to perform the ceremony cannot leave the river­bank until crows come and touch the rice-balls.

The Dakshini Chambhars keep all Hindu holidays and worship Vithoba, Khandoba, Bhavani, and Mahadev. Chambhars. favourite places of pilgrimage are Pandharpur, Saptashringi, Chandanpuri in Malegaon, Nasik and Trimbak. They hold in great reverence the Bhagat Bava of Sukena in Niphad. The Bava has given the disciples three rules of conduct, not to steal, not to cheat, and not to commit adultery. They recognise a hereditary headman, called Mehetria. Caste disputes are settled at a meeting of adult male members in consultation with the headman. A Chambhar is put out of caste for not giving caste-dinners, for using filthy language against a fellow caste man or for killing a cow. A person thus expelled, is admitted into the caste on payment of a fine, generally a caste dinner, imposed at a meeting of the adult males of the caste. Caste dinners are compulsory on occasion of birth, betrothals, marriage and death and as a punishment for breaking caste rules. They are on the whole a fairly well-off and contented community.

Pardeshi Chambhars: Pardeshi Chambhars who are of several sub-divisions, including Ahirvals, Jatvas, Dhors, and Katais claim descent from the saint Rohidas [Rohidas born at Chambhargonda now called Shrigonda in Ahmadnagar is said to have been a contemporary of the great Kabir and must have, there­fore, flourished in 12th and 13th Century. Though not the author of any great work, many of his devotional Sakis, Padas and dohras are well known.], the author of many poems and devotional songs. Their customs differ in several details from those of the Deccani Chambhars. At the time of marriage, the members of the bride's and of the bridegroom's families never dine together and no animal food is touched so long as the marriage festivities last. The bridegroom's marriage crown is very cleverly made of palm leaves and instead of holding a piece of cloth between the bride and the bridegroom at the moment of marriage, they are made to walk seven times around a pillar. These Chambhars speak Hindustani at home and an incorrect Marathi outside. They are very devout worshippers of Bhavani. It is not known when the Bengal, Marvad - and Madras Chambhars came to Nasik, but they cannot be very old settlers as they speak the language of their native country. [A few of these Chambhars at Bhagur, near Deolali, seem to have settled there since the establishment of the Deolali Military Camp.]

 

Mangs: Mangs, also called Vajantris or Musicians, are generally dark and sturdy. They make brooms, baskets and ropes of coir, twine and leather. Some serve in Infantry Regiments, others are village watchmen, guides, grooms and musicians. As musicians, their chief instruments are tambourine daf, two clarions sanais and one sur. The music produced by these is called Halemari baja. They worship the goddess Mahamari.

Ramoshis: Ramoshis are found in Nasik, Baglana and Sinnar. The Nasik Ramoshis claim descent from Rama and are really Ramavanshis and say that they are of the stock as those of Poona. They can tell men of their own tribe by sight, though to others, they do not differ from Kunbis, except that their Marathi is rough and harsh. It is considered a breach of caste rules to grow the beard. They are watchmen and dealers in cattle and sheep. Once they have pledged their word, they are honest and trustworthy. They are good huntsmen using slings but never bows and arrows. Though fond of hunting, they eat flesh of dear and hares only and never take liquor. They worship Khanderav and Bhavani of Tuljapur. They call Brahman priests to their weddings but their religious guides, gurus, are ascetics of the slit-ear or Kanphata sect. Their women are held as impure for twelve days after child-birth. The heads of their boys are first shaved at the temple of Satvi to whom they offer a goat. They have a formal betrothal, mangni, before marriage. Polygamy is allowed and practised and divorce is easy. They either bury or burn their dead. Caste dinners are given in memory of the dead, invitations being sent to friends and relations even though they may be living at a great distance. Some of them send their boys to school.

Mochis: Mochis are found in large villages and towns. They work in leather, tan and dye skins and make shoes, bridles, and water-bags. They are more skilful than Chambhars. Though some of the new-comers from north India are fairly off, their condition on the whole is poor. Halemars found all over the district are shoe-makers who make sandals, vahanas, only. Doharis, also called Dindoris, colour leather and make leather bags and mots. They never make sandals as that branch of the craft is followed by Halemars only. Dhors dye skins of cows and other animals and make water-bags, pakhals and masaks. As a class they are badly off. Bhangis are of two divisions Lalbegs and Shaikhs, the former Hindus and the latter Musalmans. Both have come from Gujarat. Except a few who used to be in the service of European officers, they are found as road sweepers and scavengers in municipal towns. They are fairly off. Mang Garudis or snake-charmers wander about, especially in large towns, begging and showing snakes.

Religious Beggars: The sanctity attached by Hindus to Nasik and Trimbak draws many religious beggars to the district. Some stay for long, others after resting for some time proceed on their pilgrimage to other places. These are Gosavis, Bairagis, Manbhavas, Bharadis, Gondhalis, Jangams, Chitra-Kathis, Joshis, Kanphatas, Gopals, Pangul and Vasudevs.

Gosavis: Gosavis of whom many are settled in different parts of the district, are worshippers of Vishnu and Shiva and are recruited from almost all castes. They rub ashes over their bodies and wear the hair dishevelled and sometimes coiled round the head. They wander about begging and visiting places of pilgrimage. Some are retail sellers of perfumes, fragrant ointments and asafoetida. Others especially in Trimbak, dealing in jewellery, owning land, lending money and trading on a large scale in grains.

Bairagis: Bairagis are also drawn from all Hindu castes and are settled like Gosavis but do not hold as good a position. They own land and keep cattle. They worship Vishnu, Shiva Bhavani and Mahalakshmi. Many of them belong to monasteries, marks, and lead a celibate life. There are sadavartas or free kitchens maintained for Bairagis and Gosavis in Panchavati, Nasik.

Manbhavas: Manbhavas live in maths. They all shave their heads and. wear black clothes. They wander about in bands and receive children devoted to their order by their parents. They are respected by the people.

Bharadis: Bharadis, also called Daure Gosavis, make a living by preparing cotton loin-girdles. They beat a little drum called damru and chant songs in honour of Jotiba, their favourite god, whose chief shrine is in Ratnagiri.[Besides by Bharadis, Jotiba is worshipped by Kunbi settlers from Poona, Ahmadnagar, Pandharpur and Sholapur where Jotiba is held in great reverence by all classes. None of the older settlers in Nasik worship Jotiba who is originally a south Konkan deity.] They worship Jotiba, Khandoba, Bhairoba and Devi. When a family has to give a feast in honour of Jotiba, a Bharadi must always be called, fed and paid alms. Before sitting to his meal the Bharadi sings some ballads in praise of the god.

Gondhalis: Gondhalis are wandering beggars who sing and dance and form a separate castle. They are engaged by people to perform a gondhal some days after a marriage or thread ceremony. This is a religious ceremony usually held at night. Two or three are engaged who know their song and dance business and asked to a dinner of puranpoli. At night they bring their musical instruments, a torch called divti and the uniform of the dancer. When the men arrive, the head of the house sets a wooden stool called Chauranga close to the goddess in whose honour the dance is given and lays some wheat on the stool and brass or copper cup containing betel leaves. In this cup is laid a half coco kernel filled with rice, a betel-nut and a coin. Near the stool is placed a lighted lamp. Then the head dancer stands in front in a long white robe reaching the ankles and wearing a garland of chowries round his neck and gingling bells round his anklets. The others stand behind him, two of them with drums and the third with a torch. The torch or divti is first worshipped with saffron and turmeric. The head dancer then dances and sings, the drummers accompanying him and the torch-bearer serving as a butt for his jokes. After about an hour, a prayer is sung in honour of the goddess and the company drops some copper or silver coins into a brass pot held by the head dancer. Then the head dancer presents them with coco kernel and sugar, the host gives the company some betel leaves, and the party breaks up. There is no fixed payment to the dancers but they get a small sum and turban. They live solely on this and are not badly off.

Jangams: Jangams are Lingayat priests and of two divisions, Sthavars and Chirantis. They wear a small silver or copper casket around their necks with an emblem of Shiva. Chirantis live a secluded life in monasteries or holy places. Sthavars serve as priests of Lingayat laymen. Some of them also beg from house to house and village to village dressed in ochre-coloured clothes, carrying a couch shell or a drum called Khanjari and others like Ravals make silk and cotton thread and silk tassels. They eat no animal food. Most of them are fairly off living in well-endowed monasteries.

Jogis: Jogis are of many kinds, some foretell future events and others act as showmen to deformed animals. Persons of all castes enter into the order, some marry, others remain single.

Joshis: Joshis foretell future events and make a precarious living.      

Kanphatas: Kanphatas or slit-ears, wearing big and thick rings in their ears earn their living by singing and playing on a guitar. Raja Gopichand is generally the hero of their songs.

Gopals: Gopals are wrestlers who earn their living by performing feasts of strength and agility. They make money by rearing and selling buffaloes. They usually remain at one camp from five to fifteen days but do not move during the rainy season, stopping wherever they happen to be, when the rains begin.

Panguls: Panguls go about praising gods and receive alms either in money or clothes blessing the names of givers’ forefathers.

Vasudevs: Vasudevs wear long peacock feather hats, play on a flute called pava and take alms in money or worn-out clothes.

Nandivales: Nandivales dress a bull in smart cloth with a fringe of jangling bells and a bell necklace, and taking him with them beg from house to house. Vasudevs, Joshis and Nandivales eat together and inter-marry.