Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.25.4

c48.s2.25.4

In the Central Provinces the Pānkā has joined the Kabīrpanthī sect in considerable numbers, like the leatherworking castes of the neighbourhood, with the further inducement that the founder of the sect was himself a weaver. The Gāndā, another weaving caste of the same region, but mostly inhabiting the plains, is closely related to the Pānkā, and, indeed, is often held to be a subdivision of the latter; but its members are now not weavers so much as cultivators, village watchmen and drummers, nor do they share the Kabīrpanthī views of the others. To the south of these castes, across the hills, are the Dombā, a tribe of hill weavers, low in their habits and trade-skill. They mostly belong to the Madras territory, but, from their name, it is possible that they may appertain to the great Dōm tribe of the north of the Ganges, members of which are found detached in the Dekkan and Karnatic. Like the Pānkā, they are classed with the lower menials of the village, and perform the same unhonoured functions. In nearly all the other parts of India the differentiation of the artisan from the menial has been more definitely carried out. The Kōrī, the chief Brāhmanic weaving caste of Upper India, together with the Julāhā, the corresponding division of the Muslim, are now quite detached from the leather-working caste from which, according to the nomenclature of their subdivisions, they sprang.