_Majhwar, Manjhi, Majhia_. [143]--A small mixed tribe who have
apparently originated from the Gonds, Mundas and Kawars. About 14,000
Majhwars were returned in 1911 from the Raigarh, Sarguja and Udaipur
States. The word Manjhi means the headman of a tribal subdivision,
being derived from the Sanskrit _madhya_, or he who is in the
centre. [144] In Bengal Manjhi has the meaning of the steersman of a
boat or a ferryman, and this may have been its original application,
as the steersman might well be he who sat in the centre. [145]
When a tribal party makes an expedition by boat, the leader would
naturally occupy the position of steersman, and hence it is easy to
see how the term Manjhi came to be applied to the leader or head of
the clan and to be retained as a title for general use. Sir H. Risley
gives it as a title of the Kewats or fishermen and many other castes
and tribes in Bengal. But it is also the name for a village headman
among the Santals, and whether this meaning is derived from the
prior signification of steersman or is of independent origin is,
uncertain. In Raigarh Mr. Hira Lal states that the Manjhis or Majhias
are fishermen and are sometimes classed, with the Kewats. They appear
to be Kols who have taken to fishing and, being looked down on by
the other Kols on this account, took the name of Majhia or Manjhi,
which they now derive from Machh, a fish. "The appearance of the
Majhias whom I saw and examined was typically aboriginal and their
language was a curious mixture of Mundari, Santal and Korwa, though
they stoutly repudiated connection with any of these tribes. They
could count only up to three in their own language, using the Santal
words _mit, baria, pia_. Most of their terms for parts of the body
were derived from Mundari, but they also used some Santali and Korwa
words. In their own language they called themselves Hor, which means
a man, and is the tribal name of the Mundas."