Kori.--The Hindu weaving caste of northern India, as distinct
from the Julahas or Momins who are Muhammadans. In 1911 the Koris
numbered 35,000 persons, and resided mainly in Jubbulpore, Saugor and
Damoh. Mr. Crooke states that their name has been derived from that
of the Kol caste, of whom they have by some been assumed to be an
offshoot. [590] The Koris themselves trace their origin from Kabir,
the apostle of the weaving castes. He, they say, met a Brahman girl
on the bank of a tank, and, being saluted by her, replied, 'May God
give you a son.' She objected that she was a virgin and unmarried,
but Kabir answered that his word could not fail; and a boy was born
out of her hand, whom she left on the bank of the tank. He was suckled
by a heifer and subsequently adopted by a weaver and was the ancestor
of the Koris. Therefore the caste say of themselves: "He was born of
an undefiled vessel, and free from passion; he lowered his body and
entered the ocean of existence." This legend is a mere perversion of
the story of Kabir himself, designed to give the Koris a distinguished
pedigree. In the Central Provinces the caste appears to be almost
entirely a functional group, made up of members of other castes who
were either expelled from their own community or of their own accord
adopted the profession of weaving. The principal subdivision is the
Ahirwar, taking its name from the old town of Ahar in the Bulandshahr
District. Among the others are Kushta (Koshta), Chadar, Katia, Mehra,
Dhimar and Kotwar, all of which, except the last, are the names of
distinct castes; while the Kotwars represent members of the caste
who became village watchmen, and considering themselves somewhat
superior to the others, have formed a separate subcaste. None of the
subcastes will eat together or intermarry, and this fact is in favour
of the supposition that they are distinct groups amalgamated into a
caste by their common profession of weaving. The caste seem to have
a fairly close connection with Chamars in some localities. A number
of Koris belong to the sect of Rohidas, and some of their family
names are the same, while a Chamar will often call himself a Kori to
conceal his identity. For the purposes of marriage they are divided
into a number of bainks or septs, the names of which are territorial
or totemistic. Among the latter may be mentioned the Kulhariya from
kulhari, an axe, and the Barmaiya from the bar or banyan tree; members
of these septs pay reverence to an axe and a banyan tree respectively
at weddings.