Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.31.2

c48.s2.31.2

As water is the element above all through which personal contamination can be conveyed, the privileged position thus conferred upon the castes in question became assured, and the next step forward was the admission of the caste into domestic service in the house. This was followed by the recognition of the fisher caste as public cook, to the extent of parching grain and preparing sweetmeats for the community at large, and selling them in shops. Thus, in the north and east of India to which the above remarks mainly apply, the fisherman basis is found in the Bhadbhunja, the Kāndu and the Bhaṭiārā, or cook of the Panjāb, all of which, with a few others of similar trade, are now, for all practical purposes, entirely distinct castes. Elsewhere, the separation has been equally exclusive, though manifested only by subdivision of the main caste. The Jāliyā or Mecho Kaibartta of Bengal, for instance, the chief fishing community of the coasts of that province, stands lower than the Hāliyā, or ploughing division. The Kōḷi, too, of the west coast, is distinct from the Talabdā, or agricultural section of this caste, and is called Māchī, or fisher, along-side of a separate caste of that name, one of whose main subdivisions is called Kōḷī. The Bhōī, again, has two separate sections, the freshwater fisherman and the porter or servant.