The caste has two main divisions in Berar, the Dukar Kolhatis and the
Kham or Pal Kolhatis. The name of the former is derived from dukar,
hog, because they are accustomed to hunt the wild pig with dogs and
spears when these animals become too numerous and damage the crops of
the villagers. They also labour for themselves by cultivating land and
taking service as village watchmen; and they are daring criminals and
commit dacoity, burglary and theft; but they do not steal cattle. The
Kham Kolhatis, on the other hand, are a lazy, good-for-nothing class
of men, who, beyond making a few combs and shuttles of bone, will set
their hands to no kind of labour, but subsist mainly by the immoral
pursuits of their women. At every large fair may be seen some of
the portable huts of this tribe, made of rusa grass, [565] the women
decked in jewels and gaudy attire sitting at each door, while the men
are lounging lazily at the back. The Dukar Kolhati women, Mr. Kitts
states, also resort to the same mode of life, but take up their abode
in villages instead of attending fairs. Among the Dukar Kolhatis the
subdivisions have Rajput names; and just as a Chauhan Rajput may not
marry another Chauhan so also a Chauhan Dukar Kolhati may not marry
a person of his own clan. In Bilaspur they are said to have four
subcastes, the Marethi or those coming from the Maratha country, the
Bansberia or pole-jumpers, the Suarwale or hunters of the wild pig,
and the Muhammadan Kolhatis, none of whom marry or take food with
each other. Each group is further subdivided into the Asal and Kamsal
(Kam-asal), or the pure and mixed Kolhatis, who marry among themselves,
outsiders being admitted to the Kamsal or mixed group.