Caste and Race in India c6.22

c6.22

Sub-castes that bear the name of some ancient city or locality, are to be met with in the majority of the castes. The Ahirs of the Central Provinces have among their sub-castes, the following groups: Jijhotia, taking their name from Jajhoti, the classical designation of Bundelkhand; Narwaria from Narwar; Kosaria from Kosala, the ancient name of Chhattisgarh; and Kanaujia from Kanauj.⁴ The Barai have the following endogamous sub-divisions: Chaurasia, from the Chaurasi pargana of Mirzapur District; Panagaria from Panagar in Jubbulpore; Mahobia from Mahoba; Jaiswar, from the town of Jais in Rai Bareli District; Gangapari, coming from the other side of the Ganges.⁵ The Brahmins of Bengal have among their sub-castes the following names: Paschatya, from the western part of India; Radhiya, from Radh, the old name of Western Bengal; Barendra, from the northern part of Bengal.⁶ The names of the sub-castes of the Brahmin caste of the United Provinces are most of them territorial in origin: Kanaujia from Kanauj; Maithil from Mithila; Jijhotia from Jajhoti; Saraswat, named after the River Saraswati; and Gaur from an old name of a large part of Northern India. Most of the sub-castes of the Brahmins of the Maratha country bear names of localities: Konkanasth from the Konkan; Deshasth from the Desh, the Deccan plateau. The Saraswat Brahmins have more than six sub-castes, all territorial in origin. Of the numerous sub-castes of the Gujarat Brahmins the majority bear territorial names, like Agarwal, from Agra, Deshaval, Harsola, Jharola, Modh, Nagar, Osval, Porval, Shrimali, Sorathia, all of them being derived from old names of localities once independent in their jurisdiction.¹ Many of the sub-divisions of the Smarta Brahmins of the Telugu country bear names derived from the old names of the various parts of that country: Velnad, Vengi Nadu, Kasal Nadu, Mulki Nadu, and Telaga Nadu. The sub-caste of the Kanara Kamma Vaidika is formed by Brahmins who originally came from the Kanarese country but are now naturalized in the Telugu country.² Following are some of the other castes among which the sub-castes bear territorial names: Vania, Mochi, Kansara, Sutar, Charan, Kumbhar, Dhed, Darji, Lohar, and Koli among Gujarat castes; Kayasth, Bania, and Vaidya, among the North Indian castes; Chambhar, Gaoli, Koli, Kumbhar, Kunbi, Lohar, Mahar, Mali, Nhavi, Sutar, and Vani among the Maratha castes.