The Kharias say that their original occupation is to carry dhoolies
or litters, and this, as well as the social rules prohibiting them
from carrying those of certain castes, is in favour of the derivation
of the name from kharkhari, a litter. They are also cultivators,
and collect forest produce. They are a wild and backward tribe,
as shown in the following extracts from an account by Mr. Ball:
[495] "The first Kharias I met with were encamped in the jungle
at the foot of some hills. The hut was rudely made of a few sal
branches, its occupants being one man, an old and two young women,
besides three or four children. At the time of my visit they were
taking their morning meal; and as they regarded my presence with
the utmost indifference, without even turning round or ceasing from
their occupations, I remained for some time watching them. They had
evidently recently captured some small animal, but what it was, as
they had already eaten the skin, I could not ascertain. As I looked
on, the old woman distributed to the others, on plates of sal leaves,
what appeared to be the entrails of the animal, and wrapping up her
own portion between a couple of leaves threw it on the fire in order
to give it a very primitive cooking. With regard to their ordinary
food the Kharias chiefly depend on the jungle for a supply of fruits,
leaves and roots.
"The Kharias never make iron themselves, but are altogether dependent
on the neighbouring bazars for their supplies. Had they at any
period possessed a knowledge of the art of making iron, conservative
of their customs as such races are, it is scarcely likely that they
would have forgotten it. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose
that there was a period prior to the advent of the Hindus when iron
was quite unknown to them--when, owing to the absence of cultivation
in the plains, they were even more dependent on the supply of jungle
food than they are at present. In those times their axes and their
implements for grubbing up roots were in all probability made of stone,
and their arrows had tips of the same material.
"In their persons the Kharias are very dirty, seldom if ever washing
themselves. Their features are decidedly of a low character, not
unlike the Bhumij, but there seemed to me to be an absence of any
strongly-marked type in their faces or build, such as enables one to
know a Santal and even a Kurmi at a glance."