_Vidur, [716] Bidur_.--A Maratha caste numbering 21,000 persons in
the Central Provinces in 1911, and found in the Nagpur Division and
Berar. They are also returned from Hyderabad and Bombay. Vidur means
a wise or intelligent man, and was the name of the younger brother
of Pandu, the father of the Pandava brothers. The Vidurs are a caste
of mixed descent, principally formed from the offspring of Brahman
fathers with women of other castes. But the descendants of Panchals,
Kunbis, Malis and others from women of lower caste are also known
as Vidurs and are considered as different subcastes. Each of these
groups follow the customs and usually adopt the occupation of the
castes to which their fathers belonged. They are known as Kharchi or
Khaltatya, meaning 'Below the plate' or 'Below the salt,' as they are
not admitted to dine with the proper Vidurs. But the rule varies in
different places, and sometimes after the death of their mother such
persons become full members of the caste, and with each succeeding
generation the status of their descendants improves. In Poona the
name Vidur is restricted to the descendants of Brahman fathers, and
they are also known as Brahmanja or 'Born from Brahmans.' Elsewhere
the Brahman Vidurs are designated especially as Krishnapakshi, which
means 'One born during the dark fortnight,' The term Krishnapakshi
is or was also used in Bengal, and Buchanan defined it as follows:
"Men of the Rajput, Khatri and Kayasth tribes, but no others, openly
keep women slaves of any pure tribe, and the children are of the
same caste with their father, but are called Krishnapakshis and can
only marry with each other." [717] In Bastar a considerable class
of persons of similar illegitimate descent also exist, being the
offspring of the unions of immigrant Hindus with women of the Gond,
Halba and other tribes. The name applied to them, however, is Dhakar,
and as their status and customs are quite different from those of
the Maratha Vidurs they are treated in a short separate article.