Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.34.2

c48.s2.34.2

In Oudh, where the Pāsī has a bad reputation, the noose in question used to be identified with that used by the Ṭhag in strangling their victims. The Pāsī is probably of very early pre-Āryan origin emanating from the Vindhya, and akin to the Arakh and Khaṭik castes, now differentiated by occupation. In Bihār it ranks with the Bind or Cain, already mentioned as low fishing or boating castes, but in the west, it takes a lower place. The Bhaṇḍārī, of the west coast, which is not to be confused with the Barber caste of Orissa, adheres more closely to its traditional calling, probably because its opportunities are greater, and the "toddy-habit" is more extensively established in the tract where it resides. Its members cultivate also to some extent, since restrictions upon the extraction of toddy were imposed by the government. They also distill spirit from forest produce and sugar in the State distilleries. Further down the coast, the Bhaṇḍarī is replaced by two similarly localised castes following the same trade, the Paik and the Billava. Both names are derived from the military services rendered to the Tulu chiefs by the ancestry of the communities in question. The Paik were the infantry, and on the strength of the tradition, some of them now claim to be Kṣatriya, substituting the sub-title of Nāmdhār, for that of Haḷe, or old, Paik. By some, however, their name is derived from Pai, the spirit worshipped by tree-tapping castes.