The caste has a large number of subdivisions. The principal groups
in Chhattisgarh are the Halia, Jharia and Ekbahia Telis. The Halias,
who perhaps take their name from _hal_, a plough, are considered to
be the best cultivators, and are said to have immigrated from Mandla
some generations ago. Probably the bulk of the Hindu population of
Chhattisgarh came from this direction. The name Jharia means jungly
or savage, and is commonly applied to the oldest residents, but the
Jharia Telis are the highest local subcaste. They require the presence
of a Brahman at their weddings, and abstain generally from liquor,
fowls and pork, to which the Halias are not averse. They also bathe
the corpse before it is burnt or buried, an observance omitted by
the Halias. The Jharias yoke only one bullock to the oil-press,
and the Halias two, a distinction which is elsewhere sufficient
of itself to produce separate subcastes. The Ekbahia (one-armed)
Telis are so called because their women wear glass bangles only
on the right hand and metal ones on the left. This is a custom of
several castes whose women do manual labour, and the reason appears
to be one of convenience, as glass bangles on the working arm would
be continually getting broken. Among the Ekbahia Telis it is said
that a woman considers it a point of honour to have these metal
bangles as numerous and heavy as her arm can bear; and at a wedding a
present of three bracelets from the bridegroom to the bride is held
to be indispensable. The Madpotwa are a small subcaste living near
the hills, who in former times distilled liquor; they keep pigs and
poultry, and rank below the others. Other groups are the Kosarias,
who are called after Kosala, the old name of Chhattisgarh, and the
Chhote or Little Telis, who are of illegitimate descent. Children
born out of wedlock are relegated to this group.
In the Nagpur country the principal subdivisions are the Ekbaile and
Dobaile, so called because they yoke one and two bullocks respectively
to the oil-press; the distinction is still maintained, the Dobaile
being also known as Tarane. This seems a trivial reason for barring
intermarriage, but it must be remembered that the yoking of the
bullock to the oil-press, coupled as it is with the necessity of
blindfolding the animal, is considered a great sin on the Teli's part
and a degrading incident of his profession; the Teli's worst fear is
that after death his soul will pass into one of his own bullocks. The
Yerande Telis are so called because they formerly pressed only the
_erandi_ or castor-oil seed, but the rule is no longer maintained. The
Yerande women leave off wearing the _choli_ or breast-cloth after they
have had one child, and have nothing under the _sari_ or body-cloth,
but they wear this folded double. The Ruthia group are said to be so
called from the noise _rut, rut_ made by the oil-mill in turning. They
say they are descended from the Nag or cobra. They salute the snake
when they see it and refrain from killing it, and they will not make
any drawing or sign having the semblance of a snake or use any article
which may be supposed to be like it. The Sao Telis are the highest
group in Wardha, and have eschewed the pressing of oil. The word Sao or
Sahu is the title of a moneylender, but they are usually cultivators
or village proprietors. A Brahman will enter a Sao Teli's house, but
not the houses of any other subcaste. Their women wear silver bangles
on the right hand and glass ones on the left. The Batri subcaste are
said to be so called from their growing the _batar_, a kind of pea,
and the Hardia from raising the _haldi_ or turmeric. The Teli-Kalars
appear to be a mixed group of Kalars who have taken to the oilman's
profession, and the Teli-Banias are Telis who have become shopkeepers,
and may be expected in the course of time to develop either into a
plebeian group of Banias or an aristocratic one of Telis. In Nimar
the Gujarati Telis, who have now grown wealthy and prosperous, claim,
as already seen, to be Modh Banias, and the same pretension is put
forward by their fellow-castemen in Gujarat itself. "The large class of
oilmen known in Gujarat as Modh-Ghanelis were originally Modh Banias,
who by taking to making and selling oil lost their position as Banias";
[668] it seems doubtful, however, whether the reverse process has not
really taken place. The Umre Telis also have the name of a subcaste
of Banias. The landholding Rathor Telis of Mandla, who now claim to
be Rathor Rajputs, will be more fully noticed later. There are also
several local subcastes, as the Mattha or Maratha Telis, who say
they came from Patan in Gujarat, the Sirwas from the ancient city of
Sravasti in Gonda District, and the Kanaujia from Oudh.