At the period prior to the introduction of wheeled transport when
palanquins or litters were largely used for travelling, the carriers
belonged to the Kahar caste in northern India and to the Dhimars
or Bhois in the south. Though litters are now practically not used
for travelling except occasionally by high-caste women, a survival
of the old custom is retained in the marriage ceremony, the bride
and bridegroom being always carried back from the marriage-shed to
the temporary lodging of the bridegroom in a _palki_, though for
the longer journey to the bridegroom's village some less cumbrous
conveyance is utilised. Four Dhimars carry the _palki_ and receive
Rs. 1-4. Well-to-do people will be carried in procession round the
town. When employed by the village proprietor the Dhimar accompanies
him on his journey, carrying his cooking-vessels and other necessaries
in a _banhgi_ or wooden cross-bar slung across the shoulders, from
which two baskets are suspended by loops of rope. Water he will
always carry in a _banhgi_ and never on his head or shoulders. From
waterman and litter-carrier the Dhimar has become a personal servant;
it is he to whom the term 'bearer' as designating a body-servant was
first applied because he bears or carries his master in a _palki_
and his clothes in a _banhgi_. He is commonly so employed in native
houses, but rarely by Europeans, whether because he is too stupid
or on account of caste objections of his own. When employed as a
cook the Dhimar or his wife is permitted to knead flour with water
and make it into a cake which the Brahman will then take and put on
to the girdle with his own hands. He can also boil water and pour
pulse into the cooking-pot from above so long as he does not touch
the vessel after the food has been placed in it. He or she will also
take any remains of food which is left in the cooking-pot as this
is not considered to be polluted, food only becoming polluted when
the hand touches it on the dish after having touched the mouth. When
this has happened all the food on the dish becomes _jutha_ or leavings
of food, and as a general rule no caste except the sweepers will eat
the leavings of food of another caste or of another person of their
own. Only the wife, whose meal follows her husband's, will eat his
leavings. As a servant the Dhimar is very familiar with his master;
he may enter any part of the house, including the cooking-place and
the women's rooms, and he addresses his mistress as 'Mother.' In
northern India Mr. Crooke states that the Kahars are sometimes known
as Mahra, from the Sanskrit Mahila, a woman, because they have the
entry of the female apartments. When he lights his master's pipe he
takes the first pull himself to show that it has not been tampered
with, and then presents it to him with his left hand placed under
his right elbow in token of respect. Maid-servants also frequently
belong to the Dhimar caste, and it often happens that the master of
the household has illicit intercourse with them. Hence there is a
proverb, 'The king's son draws water and the water-bearer's son sits
on the throne,' similar intrigues on the part of high-born women with
their servants being not unknown. The Dhimar often acts as a pimp,
this being an incident of his profession of indoor servant.