Hatkar, Hatgar. [151]--A small caste of Berar, numbering about 14,000
persons in 1911. They are found principally in the Pusad taluk of
Yeotmal District, their villages being placed like a line of outposts
along the Hyderabad border. The Hatkars are a branch of the Dhangar
or shepherd caste, and in some localities they are considered as a
subcaste of Dhangars. The derivation of the name Hatkar is obscure,
but the Hatkars appear to be those Dhangars who first took to military
service under Sivaji and hence became a distinct group. "Undisciplined,
often unarmed, men of the Mawals or mountain valleys above the Ghauts
who were called Mawallees, and of those below the mountains towards the
sea, called Hetkurees, joined the young leader." [152] The Hatkars were
thus the soldiers of the Konkan in Sivaji's army. The Ain-i-Akbari
states that the Hatkars were driven westward across the Wardha by
the Gonds. At this time (A.D. 1600) they were holding the country
round Basim by force of arms, and are described as a refractory and
perfidious race. [153] "The Hatkars of Berar are all Bargi or Bangi
Dhangars, the shepherds with the spears. They say that formerly when
going on any expedition they took only a blanket seven cubits long and
a bear-spear. They would appear to have been all footmen. The Naiks
or village headman of Basim were principally Hatkars. The duty of a
Naik was to maintain order and stop robbery; but in time they became
law-breakers and their men the dacoits of the country. Some of them
were very powerful, and in 1818 Nowsaji Naik's troops gave battle to
the Nizam's regular forces under Major Pitman before Umarkhar. He
was beaten and sent to Hyderabad, where he died, and the power of
the Naiks was broken by Major Sutherland. He hanged so many that the
Naiks pronounce his name to this day with awe. To some of the Naiks he
gave money and told them to settle down in certain villages. Others
who also came, expecting money, were at once hanged." [154] But it
would appear that only those leaders were hanged who did not come in
before a certain fixed date.