Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.14.2

c48.s6.14.2

Further to the west, this title is applied to the Bhīls of the same range, and there is doubtless some connection between the two. The Bhīl has lost his tribal language, and, except in the heart of the forest, much of his tribal religion. Like the rest of his race, however, he maintains his respect for the old pantheon as being more intimately and practically bound up with daily life than the Purānic manifestations, even though the latter be brought down to suit his requirements. The name of Bhīl is generally derived from a Dravidian word for bow, as in the case of the tree-tapping caste, Billava, in Kanara. Probably this name, or at all events its interpretation, is modern compared to the age of the community, but it certainly is applicable to the Bhīl of the present day, who in the forest, and even on the outskirts thereof, is seldom without his weapons.. In the west, the Bhīl tribes are divided, like the Kōl of further east, into a Hill and a Plain section. The latter, however, do not appear to aspire to more than a rudimentary form of village settlement by themselves or than the duties of watchmen in the larger villages of other castes. In the latter capacity, the permission to retain his arms proved too strong a temptation to be resisted when the institution was first established, and the Bhīl watchmen, with that marvellous power of rapid concentration which distinguishes the tribe, were wont to descend in force upon one of the villages exempt from their services.