_Audhelia (Audhalia)._--A small hybrid caste found almost exclusively
in the Bilaspur District, where they number about 1000 persons. The
name is derived from the word Udharia, meaning a person with
clandestine sexual intimacies. The Audhelias are a mixed caste and
trace their origin from a Daharia Rajput ancestor, by one Bhuri Bandi,
a female slave of unknown caste. This couple is supposed to have
resided in Ratanpur, the old capital of Chhattisgarh, and the female
ancestors of the Audhelias are said to have been prostitutes until
they developed into a caste and began to marry among themselves. Their
proper avocation at present is the rearing of pigs, while some of
them are also tenants and farm-labourers. Owing to the base descent
and impure occupation of the caste they are held in very low esteem,
and their touch is considered to convey pollution.