_Dhangar._ [523]--The Maratha caste of shepherds and blanket-weavers,
numbering 96,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar. They
reside principally in the Nagpur, Wardha, Chanda and Nimar Districts
of the Central Provinces and in all Districts of Berar. The Dhangars
are a very numerous caste in Bombay and Hyderabad. The name is derived
either from the Sanskrit _dhenu_, a cow, or more probably from _dhan_,
[524] wealth, a term which is commonly applied to flocks of sheep
and goats. It is said that the first sheep and goats came out of an
ant-hill and scattering over the fields began to damage the crops of
the cultivators. They, being helpless, prayed to Mahadeo to rescue
them from this pest and he thereupon created the first Dhangar to tend
the flocks. The Dhangars consequently revere an ant-hill, and never
remove one from their fields, while they worship it on the Diwali day
with offerings of rice, flowers and part of the ear of a goat. When
tending and driving sheep and goats they ejaculate 'Har, Har,' which
is a name of Mahadeo used by devotees in worshipping him. The Dhangars
furnished a valuable contingent to Sivaji's guerilla soldiery, and
the ruling family of Indore State belong to this caste. It is divided
into the following subcastes: Varadi or Barade, belonging to Berar;
Kanore or Kanade, of Kanara; Jhade, or those belonging to the Bhandara,
Balaghat and Chhindwara Districts, called the Jhadi or hill country;
Ladse, found in Hyderabad; Gadri, from _gadar_, a sheep, a division
probably consisting of northerners, as the name for the cognate
caste of shepherds in Hindustan is Gadaria; Telange, belonging to
the Telugu country; Marathe, of the Maratha country; Mahurai from
Mahur in Hyderabad, and one or two others. Eleven subcastes in all
are reported. For the purposes of marriage a number of exogamous
groups or septs exist which may be classified according to their
nomenclature as titular and totemistic, many having also the names
of other castes. Examples of sept names are: Powar, a Rajput sept;
Dokra, an old man; Marte, a murderer or slayer; Sarodi, the name of
a caste of mendicants; Mhali, a barber; Kaode, a crow; Chambhade, a
Chamar; Gujde, a Gujar; Juade, a gambler; Lamchote, long-haired; Bodke,
bald-headed; Khatik, a butcher; Chandekar, from Chanda; Dambhade, one
having pimples on the body; Halle, a he-buffalo; Moya, a grass, and
others. The sept names show that the caste is a functional one of very
mixed composition, partly recruited from members of other castes who
have taken to sheep-tending and generally from the non-Aryan tribes.