Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.12

c48.s2.12

In the Panjāb castes of this class are numerous, and in the plains of that Province there are but two others, outside the ranks of the dominant, which call for mention here. The Kambō, one of the most skilful cultivators of the province, is found along the Satlaj and in the east, where he has crossed over the Jamnā into Rohilkhand. The caste is of local or Kashmīrī origin, though the Muslim minority in it claim to be Mughal. It is probably connected with the great gardening caste of the Arāin, but its position is higher. One of its sections has taken to trade and the clerical professions, in which, however, they are said to be more skilful than honest. The Mēō, or Mēvātī, is the dominant caste of a portion of eastern Rājputāna and a small tract in the south Panjāb. It is no doubt a branch of the forest tribe of the Mīnā, but having become Muslim and acquired land, it has set up for itself. Formerly it gave much trouble from its unruly habits, but since its larger settlements were broken up into detached villages it has sobered down. Islām sits very lightly upon the Mēō, and he observes the Brāhmanic festivals impartially with those of his own northern immigration, possibly Āryan, but not of the Vedic branch, which has received an infusion of other northern blood since its settlement in the Himālaya. They are now the tenants and labourers of the Rājput landowners. Further to the east, however, their relatives, the Khāsiyā of Kumāun and Garhvāl, escaped Rājput overlordship, and themselves subdued a lower and more primitive tribe, probably the Dōm. Owing to the fact that their territory contains the two celebrated shrines of Kedārnāth and Badarināth, at the reputed sources of the Ganges, the Khāsiyā have long been thoroughly Brāhmanised, though the transition from a lower to a higher grade is more easily achieved than in the plains, and is here the result of the acquisition of wealth, not, as in the Panjāb Hills, of royal favour. The Khāsiyā do not figure separately in the returns, as they are all included under the general head of Rājput, but their number is not far short of half a million. The community which goes by a somewhat similar name in Nepāl is distinct, and of admittedly mixed origin, Brāhmanic and Mongoloidic Himālayan.