_Pardhi, [407] Bahelia, Mirshikar, Moghia, Shikari, Takankar._--A
low caste of wandering fowlers and hunters. They numbered about
15,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911, and
are found scattered over several Districts. These figures include
about 2000 Bahelias. The word Pardhi is derived from the Marathi
_paradh_, hunting. Shikari, the common term for a native hunter,
is an alternative name for the caste, but particularly applied to
those who use firearms, which most Pardhis refuse to do. Moghia is
the Hindustani word for fowler, and Takankar is the name of a small
occupational offshoot of the Pardhis in Berar, who travel from village
to village and roughen the household grinding-mills when they have
worn smooth. The word is derived from _takna_, to tap or chisel. The
caste appears to be a mixed group made up of Bawarias or other Rajput
outcastes, Gonds and social derelicts from all sources. The Pardhis
perhaps belong more especially to the Maratha country, as they are
numerous in Khandesh, and many of them talk a dialect of Gujarati. In
the northern Districts their speech is a mixture of Marwari and
Hindi, while they often know Marathi or Urdu as well. The name for
the similar class of people in northern India is Bahelia, and in the
Central Provinces the Bahelias and Pardhis merge into one another and
are not recognisable as distinct groups. The caste is recruited from
the most diverse elements, and women of any except the impure castes
can be admitted into the community; and on this account their customs
differ greatly in different localities. According to their own legends
the first ancestor of the Pardhis was a Gond, to whom Mahadeo taught
the art of snaring game so that he might avoid the sin of shooting it;
and hence the ordinary Pardhis never use a gun.