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District. | Bhâradwâj.|Biram.|Dasaundhi.|Gajbhîm.|Jâga. |Keliya.|Mahâpâtra.| Râê. |Râjbhât.|Others.|Muhammadans.| Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | ... | 211| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 119 | 40 | 370
Sahâranpur | ... | 431| ... | ... | 117 | ... | ... | ... | 80 | 1,003 | 227 | 1,858
Muzaffarnagar| ... | 911| ... | ... | 549 | ... | ... | ... | ... | 214 | 119 | 1,793
Meerut | ... | 1,771| ... | ... | 300 | ... | ... | 58 | ... | 382 | 364 | 2,875
Bulandshahr | ... | 1,173| ... | ... | 62 | 100 | ... | 1 | ... | 2,480 | 223 | 4,039
Aligarh | ... | 799| ... | ... | ... | ... | 14 | 203 | ... | 2,193 | 50 | 3,259
Mathura | ... | 237| 907 | 29 | 20 | 43 | ... | 347 | 8 | 386 | 2 | 1,979
Agra | 5 | 2,151| 13 | ... | 10 | 20 | ... | 14 | ... | 811 | 8 | 3,032
Farrukhâbâd | 5 | 640| 7 | 17 | 175 | 877 | ... | 8 | 2 | 455 | 189 | 2,375
Mainpuri | 24 | 1,263| 15 | ... | 44 | 42 | ... | 23 | ... | 796 | 54 | 2,261
Etâwah | 14 | 637| 36 | 101 | 21 | 852 | 22 | ... | ... | 1,601 | 130 | 3,414
Etah | 3 | 2,313| ... | | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 625 | 46 | 2,987
Bareilly | ... | 832| | ... | 90 | 14 | ... | 44 | | 9 | 151 | 1,180
Bijnor | 4 | 447| ... | ... | 203 | | ... | ... | ... | 210 | 121 | 985
Budâun | 3 | 1,133| ... | ... | ... | | | 16 | ... | 252 | 213 | 1,617
Morâdâbâd | 2 | 396| | ... | 66 | ... | | ... | ... | 739 | 241 | 1,444
Shâhjahânpur | 9 | 1,224| 3 | ... | ... | 157 | ... | 7 | 49 | 295 | 196 | 1,940
Pilibhît | 2 | 396| ... | ... | 2 | 15 | | | ... | 31 | 89 | 535
Cawnpur | ... | 367| 11 | 13 | 58 | 3,883 | 8 | 4 | ... | 2,421 | 121 | 6,886
Fatehpur | ... | 15| 57 | 109 | 1 | 1,290 | 109 | | 5 | 2,030 | 138 | 3,754
Bânda | ... | 85| 137 | 197 | ... | 1,542 | 20 | ... | 25 | 940 | 16 | 2,961
Hamîrpur | 8 | 254| 78 | 69 | 12 | 1,384 | 42 | ... | ... | 1,079 | ... | 2,926
Allahâbâd | 25 | 21| 83 | 24 | 2 | 218 | 6 | 18 | 911 | 3,947 | 1,592 | 6,847
Jhânsi | 55 | 416| 91 | 13 | 3 | 33 | ... | ... | | 809 | ... | 1,420
Jâlaun | 4 | 979| 125 | 58 | ... | 114 | ... | | | 702 | 3 | 1,985
Lalitpur | ... | 344| 24 | 29 | 3 | 12 | 26 | ... | ... | 469 | 2 | 909
Benares | ... | ... | 392 | ... | 2 | 8 | ... | ... | 713 | 848 | 479 | 2,442
Mirzapur | ... | ... | 244 | ... | ... | 3 | ... | ... | 1,397 | 322 | 657 | 2,623
Jaunpur | ... | ... | 2,177 | ... | ... | 185 | ... | ... | 1,363 | 558 | 1,383 | 5,666
Ghâzipur | 53 | ... | 65 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 873 | 560 | 1,086 | 2,637
Ballia | ... | ... | 1 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 272 | 179 | 832 | 1,284
Gorakhpur | 9 | 7| 1,316 | ... | ... | ... | ... | 19 | 1,583 | 1,115 | 2,146 | 6,195
Basti | 245 | 559| 1,982 | 47 | ... | ... | ... | 2 | ... | 32 | 2,974 | 5,841
Azamgarh | 6 | ... | 153 | ... | ... | ... | ... | 7 | 756 | 1,354 | 1,631 | 3,907
Tarâi | ... | 1| ... | ... | 2 | ... | ... | 7 | ... | 279 | 20 | 309
Lucknow | ... | 53| 27 | ... | ... | 1,223 | 38 | ... | ... | 649 | 577 | 2,567
Unâo | 19 | 266| ... | 46 | ... | 2,854 | 94 | ... | ... | 2,224 | 657 | 6,160
Râê Bareli | 38 | 11| 46 | 9 | ... | 1,230 | 348 | 10 | 31 | 3,111 | 165 | 4,999
Sîtapur | 4 | 162| 19 | ... | ... | 1,817 | 4 | ... | ... | 1,312 | 2,152 | 5,470
Hardoi | ... | 1,257| ... | ... | ... | 2,185 | ... | 2 | ... | 128 | 900 | 4,472
Kheri | ... | 869| 22 | ... | ... | 590 | ... | 22 | ... | 293 | 1,046 | 2,842
Faizâbâd | 7 | ... | 64 | ... | ... | 103 | 113 | ... | 1,067 | 3,696 | 2,040 | 7,090
Gonda |... | | 2,556 | ... | ... | ... | 21 | 52 | 103 | 1,490 | 320 | 4,542
Bahrâich |... | 1 | 666 | 53 | ... | 255 | 28 | 19 | 1 | 1,585 | 2,737 | 5,345
Sultânpur |... | ... | 257 | ... | | 304 | ... | 316 | 732 | 4,491 | 942 | 7,042
Partâbgarh |... | ... | 100 | 14 | ... | ... | ... | 184 | 155 | 5,482 | 1,194 | 7,129
Bârabanki | 61 | ... | 148 | 56 | ... | 1,262 | 116 | 65 | 1,000 | 2,842 | 1,190 | 6,740
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Total | 605 |22,631| 11,822 | 884 |1,742 |22,615 | 1,009 | 1,448 | 11,126 |57,588 | 29,463 | 160,933
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Bhathiyâra. [37]—(Sanskrit, Bhrishtakâra, “a preparer of roasted and
fried meat”).—The keepers of inns and cooking-houses and sellers of
tobacco. Their business is the entertainment of travellers, and their
functions thus trench on the occupations of the baker (nânbâi), the
preparer and seller of fried meat (kabâb farosh), and the tobacconist
(tambâkuwâla). They trace their origin to Salîm Shâh, son of Shîr Shâh,
who reigned between 1545 and 1552 A.D., and one tradition makes them
out to be the descendants of members of the household establishments of
Shîr Shâh and Salîm Shâh, who, after the overthrow of their masters by
Humâyun, were doomed to servitude as attendants on travellers. The real
name of Salîm Shâh was Jalâl or Islâm Shâh, and both he and his father
still live in the traditions of the people. One proverb about them is
Kya legâya Shîr Shâh? Kya legâya Salîm Shâh?—“In spite of their
greatness what has Shîr Shâh or Salîm Shâh taken with him to the
grave?”. Another is Shîr Shâh ki dârhi bari yâ Salîm Shâh ki?—“Which
had the longest beard, Shîr Shâh or Salîm Shâh?” i.e., “What is the use
of arguing over trifles?” The establishment of inns (sarâi) goes,
however, back as far as the reign of Chandra Gupta. The traveller Terry
writes:—“In this kingdom there are no Innes to entertain travellers;
only in great Townes and Cities are faire houses built for their
receipt, where any passenger may have roome freely, but must bring with
him his Bedding, his Cooke and other necessaries.” [38]
[Tribal organisation.] 2. In memory of their traditional origin they
have two sub-divisions known as the Shîrshâhi and Salîmshâhi, who are
distinguished by the women of the former wearing petticoats and the
latter drawers. Another tradition, which is apparently based merely on
the similarity of name, makes them out to be in some way connected with
the Bhatti tribe. In the east of the Province there are two
sub-divisions—Bhathiyâra and Hariyâra—which differ only in this, that
the women of the former wear metal bangles (mâthi), and the latter
those made of glass or lac. The Census Returns classify them under
fifty-two clans, none of which are of much local importance, and
display a curious mixture of Hindu and Muhammadan names, such as
Bahlîm, Bhîl, Chauhân, Chiryamâr, Jalkhatri, Madariya, Mukeri, Sadîqi,
Nânbâi, Shirâzi, and Sulaimâni.
[Marriage rules.] 3. They profess to follow the ordinary Muhammadan
laws of marriage, of which the nikâh is the binding portion. The two
divisions, Salîmshâhi and Shîrshâhi, are said to be endogamous, because
the women of the latter bear an indifferent reputation; in fact it is
alleged that they are prostituted both before and after marriage. Dr.
Buchanan [39] says:—“Many of their women, but by no means the greater
part, refuse no favour to a liberal customer;” and Forster writes
[40]:—“The stationary tenants of the serauee, many of them women, and
some of them very pretty, approach the traveller on his entrance, and
in alluring language describe to him the varied excellencies of their
several lodgings.” The levirate prevails, but is not compulsory on the
widow. They follow the usual Muhammadan rules of divorce and
inheritance.
[Religion.] 4. They are Muhammadans of the Sunni sect. To the east of
the Province they reverence Ghâzi Miyân and the Pânchon Pîr, to whom
sweetmeats and garlands of flowers are offered on the first Sunday in
the month of Jeth. They bury their dead and offer to the spirits of
deceased ancestors vermicelli (siwaiyân), and bread on the ‘Id and the
halwa sweetmeat on the Shab-i-barât. In former times, it is said, they
used to consult Brâhmans in fixing an auspicious day for marriages—a
practice which appears now to be abandoned. They do the usual third day
(tîja) and fortieth day (chehlam) ceremony for the repose of the
spirits of the dead.
[Occupation.] 5. Besides their special business of entertaining
travellers they also catch fish, and are hence in the west of the
Province, known as Mahigîr or “fishcatcher.” Their women are known as
Mehtarâni, a sort of mock honorific title. Of the Grand Trunk Road Dr.
Buchanan writes [41]:—“On the great road more attention is shown to the
real convenience of travellers than in any part of India which I have
yet visited; and regular inns (sarâi, bhathiyârkhâna) are kept at
convenient distances. Each inn consists of a number of distinct
chambers, which are let by the night to any traveller or company, eight
or ten persons travelling together often occupying one chamber. The
chamber usually consists of a wretched straw hut, seven or eight cubits
long and five or six wide, and is in general totally destitute of
furniture; a few only afford a little straw or a mat to sleep on; but
some kept by obliging nymphs have bedsteads, where favourites are
received. The Bhathiyâras or keepers are low Muhammadans, such
attention to strangers being incompatible with Hindu reserve. Each
keeper, according to his means, has a number of chambers, which are
usually disposed in a row (alang); and in most inns are several keepers
whose rows of chambers surround squares or wide lanes, in which the
cattle of carriages of the travellers stand. Hindus pay from one to two
pice a night for each chamber, and Muhammadans pay double because the
Bhathiyârin cooks for them. The keeper generally retails fire-wood,
tobacco, and the charcoal balls used in smoking, and purchases for his
guests whatever other article they want. Some of them also retail
earthen ware and shoes. Hindus of the highest rank can sleep in such
places, when no pure person will give them accommodation; but they, of
course, can receive little or no assistance from the keeper, who cannot
bring water that his guest will use, nor can the Brâhman cook in the
inn. He must go to some pure place, and for that purpose usually
selects the side of a river which in this country is the most common
abode of Cloacina.” In these inns the Bhathiyâra women are said often
to act as go-betweens (saparda). Some add to their income by keeping
pony or bullock carts (ekka, bahli).