The caste has a large number of subdivisions of a local or occupational
nature; among occupational names may be mentioned the Singaria or those
who cultivate the _singara_ nut, the Nadha or those who live on the
banks of streams, the Tankiwalas or sharpeners of grindstones, the
Jhingas or prawn-catchers, the Bansias and Saraias or anglers (from
_bansi_ or _sarai_, a bamboo fishing-rod), the Bandhaiyas or those
who make ropes and sacking of hemp and fibre, and the Dhurias who sell
parched rice. These last say that their original ancestors were created
by Mahadeo out of a handful of dust (_dhur_) for carrying the palanquin
of Parvati when she was tired. They are probably the same people as
the Dhuris who also parch grain, and in Chhattisgarh are considered
as a separate caste. Similarly the Sonjhara Dhimars wash for gold,
the calling of the separate Sonjhara caste. The Kasdhonia Dhimars wash
the sands of the sacred rivers to find the coins which pious pilgrims
frequently drop or throw into the river as an offering when they bathe
in it. The Gondia subcaste is clearly an offshoot from the Gond tribe,
but a large proportion of the whole caste in the Central Provinces
is probably derived from the Gonds or Kols, members of this latter
tribe being especially proficient as palanquin-bearers. The Suvarha
subcaste is named after the _suar_ or pig, because members of this
subcaste breed and eat the unclean animal; they are looked down on
by the others. Similarly the Gadhewale Dhimars keep donkeys, and are
despised by the other subcastes who will not take food from them. They
use donkeys for carrying loads of wood, and the bridegroom rides to
his wedding on this animal; and among them a donkey is the only animal
the corpse of which can be touched without conveying pollution. The
Bhanare Dhimars appear to be named after the town of Bhandara.