Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.t1.6.2

c48.s2.t1.6.2

It tends, however, like all else in India, to become hereditary in the families which take to it, and, if associated with a recognised dole out of the harvest, to be ultimately crystallised into a sub-caste. This seems to have been the case with the Dhānuk of the Ganges valley, though the branch of the caste which has found its way into the eastern Panjāb is treated as criminal without the saving grace of occasional watchmanship. The Mahār of the Dekkan, again, has recognised subdivisions of watchmen and the guardians of the village gate. There are also castes which are traditionally watchmen without any association with the predatory classes. Among these are the Barvālā and Batvāl, of the lower Himālayan valleys of the Panjāb, who, though chiefly watchmen and messengers, also perform many of the menial offices which in the plains are left to the Camār, but draw the line at dealing with skins and leather. They are not allowed however, to reside within the village site, and in this respect are on the level of the Mahār. The exercises its traditional functions of guarding the villages, it considers itself higher in rank than the other sub-division, the Zamīndārī, which has settled down to cultivation, and it used to take its brides from the latter without returning them. Now, however, the cultivator has advanced in prosperity and refuses to recognise the older section either as its superior or even as its equal.