Khairwar, Kharwar, Khaira, Khairwa. [469]--A primitive tribe of the
Chota Nagpur plateau and Bihar. Nearly 20,000 Khairwars are now under
the jurisdiction of the Central Provinces, of whom two-thirds belong
to the recently acquired Sarguja State, and the remainder to the
adjoining States and the Bilaspur District. A few hundred Khairwars or
Khairwas are also returned from the Damoh District in the Bundelkhand
country. Colonel Dalton considers the Khairwars to be closely connected
with the Cheros. He relates that the Cheros, once dominant in Gorakhpur
and Shahabad, were expelled from these tracts many centuries ago by the
Gorkhas and other tribes, and came into Palamau. "It is said that the
Palamau population then consisted of Kharwars, Gonds, Mars, Korwas,
Parheyas and Kisans. Of these the Kharwars were the people of most
consideration. The Cheros conciliated them and allowed them to remain
in peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sarguja; all
the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military
service grants of land, which they still retain. It is popularly
asserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palamau they
numbered twelve thousand families and the Kharwars eighteen thousand,
and if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he
belongs, he will say not that he is a Chero or a Kharwar, but that he
belongs to the twelve thousand or the eighteen thousand, as the case
may be. Intermarriages between Chero and Kharwar families have taken
place. A relative of the Palamau Raja married a sister of Maninath
Singh, Raja of Ramgarh, and this is among themselves an admission
of identity of origin, as both claiming to be Rajputs they could not
intermarry till it was proved to the satisfaction of the family priest
that the parties belonged to the same class.... The Rajas of Ramgarh
and Jashpur are members of this tribe, who have nearly succeeded in
obliterating their Turanian traits by successive intermarriages with
Aryan families. The Jashpur Raja is wedded to a lady of pure Rajput
blood, and by liberal dowries has succeeded in obtaining a similar
union for three of his daughters. It is a costly ambition, but there
is no doubt that the liberal infusion of fresh blood greatly improves
the Kharwar physique." [470] This passage demonstrates the existence
of a close connection between the Cheros and Khairwars. Elsewhere
Colonel Dalton connects the Santals with the Khairwars as follows:
[471] "A wild goose coming from the great ocean alighted at Ahiri
Pipri and there laid two eggs. From these two eggs a male and female
were produced, who were the parents of the Santal race. From Ahiri
Pipri our (Santal) ancestors migrated to Hara Dutti, and there they
greatly increased and multiplied and were called Kharwar." This also
affords some reason for supposing that the Khairwars are an offshoot
of the Cheros and Santals. Mr. Crooke remarks, "That in Mirzapur the
people themselves derive their name either from their occupation as
makers of catechu (khair) or on account of their emigration from
some place called Khairagarh, regarding which there is a great
difference of opinion. If the Santal tradition is to be accepted,
Khairagarh is the place of that name in the Hazaribagh District; but
the Mirzapur tradition seems to point to some locality in the south
or west, in which case Khairagarh may be identified with the most
important of the Chhattisgarh Feudatory States, or with the pargana
of that name in the Allahabad District." [472] According to their
own traditions in Chota Nagpur, Sir H. Risley states that, [473]
"The Kharwars declare their original seat to have been the fort of
Rohtas, so called as having been the chosen abode of Rohitaswa, son of
Harischandra, of the family of the Sun. From this ancient house they
also claim descent, calling themselves Surajvansis, and wearing the
Janeo or caste thread distinguishing the Rajputs. A less flattering
tradition makes them out to be the offspring of a marriage between
a Kshatriya man and a Bhar woman contracted in the days of King Ben,
when distinctions of caste were abolished and men might marry whom they
would." A somewhat similar story of themselves is told by the tribe
in the Bamra State. Here they say that their original ancestors were
the Sun and a daughter of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, who lived
in the town of Sara. She was very beautiful and the Sun desired her,
and began blowing into a conch-shell to express his passion. While
the girl was gaping at the sight and sound, a drop of the spittle fell
into her mouth and impregnated her. Subsequently a son was born from
her arm and a daughter from her thigh, who were known as Bhujbalrai
and Janghrai. [474] Bhujbalrai was given great strength by the Sun,
and he fought with the people of the country, and became king of
Rathgarh. But in consequence of this he and his family grew proud,
and Lakshmi determined to test them whether they were worthy of the
riches she had given them. So she came in the guise of a beggar to
the door, but was driven away without alms. On this she cursed them,
and said that their descendants, the Khairwars, should always be
poor, and should eke out a scanty subsistence from the forests. And
in consequence the Khairwars have ever since been engaged in boiling
wood for catechu. Mr. Hira Lal identifies the Rathgarh of this story
with the tract of Rath in the north of the Raigarh State and the town
of Sara, where Lakshmi's daughter lived and her children were born,
with Saria in Sarangarh.