_Kurmi_. [52]--The representative cultivating caste of Hindustan or
the country comprised roughly in the United Provinces, Bihar arid the
Central Provinces north of the Nerbudda. In 1911 the Kurmis numbered
about 300,000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom half belonged
to the Chhattisgarh Division and a third to the Jubbulpore Division;
the Districts in which they were most numerous being Saugor, Damoh,
Jubbulpore, Hoshangabad, Raipur, Bilaspur and Drug. The name is
considered to be derived from the Sanskrit _krishi_, cultivation,
or from _kurma_, the tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, whether because
it is the totem of the caste or because, as suggested by one writer,
the Kurmi supports the population of India as the tortoise supports
the earth. It is true that many Kurmis say they belong to the Kashyap
_gotra_, Kashyap being the name of a Rishi, which seems to have been
derived from _kachhap_, the tortoise; but many other castes also
say they belong to the Kashyap _gotra_ or worship the tortoise,
and if this has any connection with the name of the caste it is
probable that the caste-name suggested the _gotra_-name and not the
reverse. It is highly improbable that a large occupational caste should
be named after an animal, and the metaphorical similitude can safely
be rejected. The name seems therefore either to come from _krishi_,
cultivation, or from some other unknown source.