Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s5.1.3

c48.s5.1.3

Nānak, indeed, is one of the names most revered amongst the Banjārā even as far as the Dekkan. In upper India some of the tribe have settled down to trade and money-lending. The Vanjārī of the Marāṭhā country, too, are to a great extent cultivators, and for some generations have been scarcely distinguishable from their Kunbī neighbours. The traditional calling of the tribe has been greatly curtailed by the extension of railway communication, but a good business is still done, especially where it can be combined with the rearing and sale of stock to the peasantry, as in Oudh and upper India generally. In the tracts where the gangs are organised for travel, the old system of Ṭāṇḍā, or gang-circuits is retained, and no Ṭāṇḍā is allowed to journey over the sphere allotted to another. In the Dekkan, indeed, the partition is said to be not unconnected with predatory excursions by the lower class of Banjārā. The Lavāṇā, under its various designations, is sometimes treated as a separate caste, and is not often found alongside of the Banjārā. But it appears to be nothing more than one of the older divisions of the main community, which has kept to the west and south. In the Karnatic, for instance, the title Banjārā is unknown, and the Lambāḍi, or Lambhāni, occasionally called Sūkali, pursues its avocation alone, though on a lower plane than his comrade in the north. He maintains, however, his reputation as a cattle-doctor, as well as that of an expert in sorcery and witchcraft.