The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c20.8

c20.8

*Beldar Lugare*—Beldar, a wandering caste of quarrymen. ‘They are strong and dark and the men wear the moustache and top-knot. They speak Marathi. They are stone-cutters and bricklayers, digging wells, blasting rocks, and breaking stones. Their houses are like those of cultivating Marathas. The men wear the loin cloth, waist cloth, and short tight trousers or *cholnas*, the jacket, and the Maratha turban; and the women dress in the ordinary Maratha robe and bodice and do not tuck the end of the robe back between the feet. They eat fish and flesh and drink liquor. They are hard working, orderly, and hospitable but fond of drink. They have caste councils, do not send their boys to school, and are a steady people earning enough to maintain themselves.’ *Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency*, Vol. XX, pp. 91-2. *Lugadu* means a robber or plunderer. *Beldar Lugare*, therefore, stands for a plunderer of the Beldar caste.