The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 2

by R. V. Russell

1. Numbers and distribution.

Basor,[1] Bansphor, Dhulia, Burud.—The occupational caste of bamboo-workers, the two first names being Hindi and the last the term used in the Marātha Districts. The cognate Uriya caste is called Kandra and the Telugu one Medara. The Basors numbered 53,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berār in 1911. About half the total number reside in the Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore Districts. The word Basor is a corruption of Bānsphor, ‘a breaker of bamboos.’ Dhulia, from dholi, a drum, means a musician.