Kachera, [230] Kachara (from kanch, glass).--The functional caste of
makers of glass bangles. The Kacheras numbered 2800 persons in the
Central Provinces in 1911, of whom 1800 were found in the Jubbulpore
District. The caste say that in former times glass bangles were made
only by Turk or Muhammadan Kacheras. The present name of Turkari is
probably derived from Turk. But when Gauri Parvati was to be married
to Mahadeo, she refused to wear the bangles made by a Turkari. So
Mahadeo constructed a vedi or furnace, and from this sprang the first
Hindu Kachera, who was employed to make bangles for Parvati. A later
variant of the legend, having a sufficiently obvious deduction, is
that Mahadeo did not create a man, but caught hold of a Kshatriya
who happened to be present and ordered him to make the bangles. His
descendants followed the new profession and thus came to be known
as Kacheras. It is a possible conclusion from the story that the
art of making glass bangles was introduced by the Muhammadans and,
as suggested in the article on Lakhera, it may be the case that Hindu
women formerly wore ornaments made of lac.