Kachhi.--An important cultivating caste of the northern Districts,
who grow vegetables and irrigated crops requiring intensive
cultivation. The distinction between the Kachhis and Malis of the
Hindustani Districts is that the former grow regular irrigated
crops, while the latter confine their operations to vegetables and
flower-gardens; whereas the Mali or Marar of the Maratha country is
both a cultivator and a gardener. The Kachhis numbered about 120,000
persons in 1911, and resided mainly in the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore
and Narsinghpur Districts. The word Kachhi may be derived from kachhar,
the name given to the alluvial land lying on river banks, which they
greatly affect for growing their vegetables. Another derivation is
from kachhni, a term used for the process of collecting the opium from
the capsules of the poppy. [232] The caste are probably an offshoot of
the Kurmis. Owing to the resemblance of names they claim a connection
with the Kachhwaha sept of Rajputs, but this is not at all probable.