Certain subcastes are of an occupational nature, and among these may be
mentioned the Budalgirs of Chhindwara, who derive their name from the
_budla_, or leather bag made for the transport and storage of oil and
_ghi_. The _budla_, Mr. Trench remarks, [449] has been ousted by the
kerosene oil tin, and the industry of the Budalgirs has consequently
almost disappeared; but the _budlas_ are still used by barbers to
hold oil for the torches which they carry in wedding processions. The
Daijanya subcaste are so named because their women act as midwives
(_dai_), but this business is by no means confined to one particular
group, being undertaken generally by Chamar women. The Kataua or
Katwa are leather-cutters, the name being derived from _katna_, to
cut. And the Gobardhua (from _gobar_, cowdung) collect the droppings
of cattle on the threshing-floors and wash out and eat the undigested
grain. The Mochis or shoemakers and Jingars [450] or saddlemakers and
bookbinders have obtained a better position than the ordinary Chamars,
and have now practically become separate castes; while, on the other
hand, the Dohar subcaste of Narsinghpur have sunk to the very lowest
stage of casual labour, grass-cutting and the like, and are looked
down on by the rest of the caste. [451] The Korchamars are said to be
the descendants of alliances between Chamars and Koris or weavers, and
the Turkanyas probably have Turk or Musalman blood in their veins. In
Berar the Romya or Haralya subcaste claim the highest rank and say
that their ancestor Harlya was the primeval Chamar who stripped off
a piece of his own skin to make a pair of shoes for Mahadeo. [452]
The Mangya [453] Chamars of Chanda and the Nona Chamars of Damoh are
groups of beggars, who are the lowest of the caste and will take food
from the hands of any other Chamar. The Nona group take their name
from Nona or Lona Chamarin, a well-known witch about whom Mr. Crooke
relates the following story: [454] "Her legend tells how Dhanwantari,
the physician of the gods, was bitten by Takshaka, the king of the
snakes, and knowing that death approached he ordered his sons to cook
and eat his body after his death, so that they might thereby inherit
his skill in medicine. They accordingly cooked his body in a cauldron,
and were about to eat it when Takshaka appeared to them in the form
of a Brahman and warned them against this act of cannibalism. So
they let the cauldron float down the Ganges, and as it floated down,
Lona the Chamarin, who was washing on the bank of the river, took the
vessel out in ignorance of its contents, and partook of the ghastly
food. She at once obtained power to cure diseases, and especially
snake-bite. One day all the women were transplanting rice, and it
was found that Lona could do as much work as all her companions put
together. So they watched her, and when she thought she was alone she
stripped off her clothes (nudity being an essential element in magic),
muttered some spells, and threw the plants into the air, when they
all settled down in their proper places. Finding she was observed, she
tried to escape, and as she ran the earth opened, and all the water of
the rice-fields followed her and thus was formed the channel of the
Loni River in the Unao District." This Lona or Nona has obtained the
position of a nursery bogey, and throughout Hindustan, Sir H. Risley
states, parents frighten naughty children by telling them that Nona
Chamarin will carry them off. The Chamars say that she was the mother
or grandmother of the prophet Ravi Das, or Rai Das already referred to.