Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.31.3

c48.s2.31.3

The Bōya, of Telingāna, which appears to be the nucleus of the caste, is divided into a village or settled section, which fishes and engages in service and porterage, and a nomad, or hunting section, living by fowling and the sale of jungle-produce. The same distinctions are found in some form or other among the great fishing castes of the Ganges valley, above the Delta. It seems probable that these all spring from some Kōl tribe of the north Vindhya, which spread from the hills down the rivers. A great number of the fisherman are returned at the Census under the general title of Mallāh, which, being Arabic, must have been conferred upon them at a comparatively recent date. Its subdivisions include many who are elsewhere returned under what are usually considered to be distinctive caste titles, such as Tiyar, Mālo, Kēvat and the like, with their endless subsections. One of the castes thus split up, the Pāṭnī, appears to be of a north-Gangetic origin, possibly descended from some sub-Himālayan tribe like the Dōm. The Mālo, also found principally in north Bihār, holds an almost equally low position. The Tiyar comes between the Mālo and the Jāliyā Kaibartta. The Kēvat in Oudh and Bihār, though probably of the same Vindhyan origin as the Mālo and Tiyar, is largely engaged in cultivation, and takes his stand, accordingly, above the sections of the caste which carry loads or engage in domestic service, as well as above those who still live on the river.